This paper presents the problem that exists, at least in Mexico, about the heterogeneity of previous Mathematics knowledge of Engineering Students when they enter university, and how an Adaptive Learning Strategy can help them level that knowledge. The study's results show that an Adaptive Strategy assisted by technology improves learning by helping students retrieve the previous knowledge they need according to their specific needs.

In the educational field, the global Covid-19 pandemic contributed to the poor academic performance of students, partly due to the change from in-person format to online classes for approximately two years. On the other hand, the profile of current students as digital natives has caused many of them to present problems with concentration, attention, and learning retention during teaching. Furthermore, students' overreliance on technology to rapidly complete their tasks and school activities often hinders their ability to engage in meaningful learning. Consequently, students who finish high school and wish to enter engineering careers could present areas of opportunity in the mastery of basic mathematical tools, which are necessary to successfully study physics and mathematics subjects in their first year of a professional engineering career. This paper presents a study of a “Pre-Test” diagnostic exam on basic mathematics tools, which was applied during the first week of classes to 1,314 students who entered the first semester of engineering careers. The exam consisted of 10 questions on basic topics of algebra, trigonometry, and area calculation. The study shows a statistical analysis of how the students responded to each question, which was very helpful in identifying the most difficult topics. On the other hand, corrective actions are presented that were implemented over 4 weeks, with activities on the Canvas and WebAssign platforms, as well as the development of a problem situation based on Kepler's laws. At the end of the 5 weeks, the “Post-Test” diagnostic exam was applied, with the participation of 1,136 students, with whom this study was satisfactorily completed, where the degree of academic recovery that the students managed to achieve was analyzed, concerning these basic mathematical tools.

Emotions play a crucial role in shaping learning and academic performance, particularly in the context of undergraduate mathematics courses. Anxiety is commonly experienced when studying mathematics. Existing research consistently supports the positive impact of incorporating gamification into higher education to foster active learning. We conducted a quantitative, exploratory, and quasy-experimental methodological approach to apply two instruments that lead us to determine the relationship between gamification based on reward mechanics and emotions, motivation, and engagement. To achieve this objective, the applied instruments were and adapted Emotions in Learning test and a modified version of the MAKE instrument (Motivates, Attitude, Knowledge, and Engages). The study sample consisted of 20 students. The findings revealed a noteworthy increase in positive emotions, particularly a significant decrease in mathematics-related anxiety, accompanied by an increase in enthusiasm, pride, and a sense of companionship post-test. Additionally, negative emotions decreased in the post-test, including feelings of shame, annoyance, and regret. These results suggest that gamification, with its reward-based approach, can effectively enhance the emotional well-being and motivation of students in mathematics courses and other subjects. This research is still ongoing to confirm the obtained results and to extend the tests to other subjects.

This paper presents the results from a gamification platform developed by two Latin American universities from Mexico and Peru, with the aim to promote engagement and improve students' attitudes towards the learning process, as well as facilitate the professors' work. The methodological approach to this research was qualitative on the course Modeling of Movement in Engineering where students used the platform named Gamit! for five weeks. The study dimensions are attention, engagement, resilience, and usability to continue the previous research.

The study presents the results of an Adaptive Learning strategy managed with a technological platform that works on demand, where a professor's team developed the contents, activities, and quizzes. The results of the study show that Adaptive Learning assisted by technology is a tool that improves the learning experience.

Gamit! is a software platform that enables instructors to use gamification concepts and techniques in their classrooms. Currently, the platform allows instructors to create leaderboards and use badges to incentivize students in the pursuit of learning. The results during a user experience testing phase (one university academic term) using the System Usability Scale, showed that the platform is easy to use, and the functionalities work correctly.

In recent years, diversity, inclusion, and gender equity have gained relevance in society, and universities as educators have integrated it as an initiative to develop in their culture. As part of strengthening this culture a private university with 26 campuses in Mexico develops initiatives that support this culture. This study shares the common roadmap and the lessons learned from the use of the process approach (fundamental approach of industrial engineering area) in two of these programs: the first one is an institutional initiative linked to the recognition of human dignity, which impacts all its campuses, and the second is a program that emerges from women engineering students to mentor vulnerable public high school women, which inspires their growth as women and presents STEM careers as an opportunity for their professional growth. The comparison of both processes and the learning is done in its stages: (1) design of the plan, (2) definition of the stakeholders, (3) instruments used, (4) design of the operation model, (5) documentation and (6) validation. The findings are related to the reasons for the need to generate operation models for the programs: quality and warmth solid initiatives offered on different campuses, continuous improvement process and to create and strengthen an impact on the culture of equity, inclusion and diversity. Students and professors of the industrial engineering career are key players in the success of the design as well as stakeholder involvement. Also, the development of instruments (interviews, focus groups, or participatory meetings), and the feedback from the main users, should be present throughout the whole process. Different methods and tools of the process approach were used and helped to generate operating models that are currently in use, helping to fulfill the purpose of each program or initiative, to create and strengthen an equitable, diversity and inclusive culture.

Competency-based education is increasingly demanded in higher education institutions. Tecnologico de Monterrey (TEC, Mexico) implemented a new educational model based on competencies (TEC21), thus, innovative spaces were designed to ensure versatile and flexible learning. This research is a post-occupancy evaluation and aims at exploring the extent to which classroom design can boost a competency-based model learning in engineering students (n = 122) in different campuses throughout the country. A mixed research method based on data collected from a satisfaction and compatibility questionnaire and classroom observations was utilized. Main results indicate that, generally speaking, students were more satisfied with the learning spaces than teachers were. We discuss the importance of the tables, chairs, and electric outlets in the classroom. Secondly, the innovate spaces highly promoted collaborative work but they were not enough to support prototype designing lessons in engineering. Overall, the innovative spaces are designed to cover different discipline contents so that, not all of them meet the learning needs of all the subjects taught in the higher education institution.

Gamification in higher education has become relevant to improve motivation and engagement in courses. The contribution we looked for is finding if avatar selection impacts students' performance to integrate improved gamified course design. We established a relation between the reason for avatar selection and the gained avatars to conclude its impact on motivation and engagement in two undergraduate courses, one for Calculus and the other for Professional Competencies Development. Findings point to a seek for identification with personal qualities as perseverance and discipline, and teamwork in the Calculus course. Women chose their avatar primarily based on the spirit of struggle, determination, and characteristics to overcome any situation.

In recent years, global efforts to generate a culture of gender equity have been made. However, in Latin American countries, these efforts have been insufficient in the presence of the latent reality of inequality and violence suffered by women. Faced with this reality, universities should not be distant from this environment, so initiatives have been developed that impact women and this culture of gender equity, especially in the academic area. The purpose of this research is to determine the variables that directly affect the engagement of public high school students in their development and empowerment as women and to awaken their interest in STEM areas, and the personal impact in undergraduate students of STEM areas about equity gender and social responsibility. The methodology is of a mixed nature: 1) design of Mentoring Program and workshops in STEM and Gender equity, and research́s methodology planning; 2) integration of the leading team, 3) implementation of the program with public high school women students, undergraduate students, and women teacher of STEM areas; 4) preliminary evaluations through beneficiary surveys, reflection blogs with undergraduate students and interviews with a sample of student mentors and mentor teachers; and 5) data analysis and exploration of the replicability of the model on another campus. Among the preliminary findings with high school women students are: a) a high interest in topics of STEM careers (despite not being in the specialty in high school), b) resources limitations and time restrictions due to their reality and c) a personal discovery through the interaction of undergraduate women students and women teachers, both as mentors. Despite the circumstances, it was decided to develop it because this reality cannot wait to seek a change, and it is the women helping other young women that can make possible the cultural and social change.

Gender equity and inclusion have been relevant topics in the agenda of the companies, organizations and universities. As a university and particularly with engineering, science and technology programs, it is relevant to implement actions that encourage this culture of gender equity in a STEM environment. The main initiatives are related to mentoring programs, which seek to develop and empower women through women themselves. The research aims to identify the factors that influence the impact generated by the mentoring process in the different stakeholders: teachers, researchers and high school students. The mentoring model is composed of three key elements: (a) massive session with life testimonies of engineering and science students, (b) massive session with the testimonies of mentors and mentees, and (c) the mentoring sessions in small groups or one-to-one. The methodology is of a mixed nature and is composed of 4 stages: (1)design of the mentoring program based on the research of literature review and interviews with companies that has experience in mentoring programs, (2) implementation of the mentoring program with high school students and women STEM professors mentors, (3) evaluation of the impact of the program with interviews with mentors, observation, focus groups with mentors and mentees, and surveys, (4) definition of the impact factors and improvement areas of the program. The findings in the different stages allowed to integrate the factors that impact the mentoring process and its involved stakeholders. Some of the factors that influence the impact of the mentoring program are: the role of the mentor and its characteristics, the mentee profile, its commitments and interests, the impact of the life testimony both professional and personal, the type of needs that arise for the mentees and for the mentors, the time of attention, and the interaction.

This article showcases a gamification implementation design to examine the contribution to professional competencies of college students who are close to complete internships. This paper analyses through an exploratory approach, the preliminary results of the implementation of a leaderboard that used avatars or nicknames (students’ election between both options) when students earn a badge at the same time they prepared for their full-time internship search.

This research shows the effects of gamification applied in a calculus course with telepresence and holographic projection. Gamification was applied to engage heterogeneous students in the calculus course. It applied a rewards mechanic with the superpowers narrative, from which the students earned points for both, cognitive aspects, and attitudes and values. The results showed positive acceptance by the students, improvement in attendance, and improvement in the second evaluation period grades, which consisted of activities, tasks, and one exam.

Learning Analytics (LA) is data science applied to the educational field. It enables the measurement, collection, and analysis of learners’ data and their context. In this research we utilized two algorithms from the field of artificial intelligence (AI): K-Nearest Neighbor and Random Forest. These algorithms trained a predictive model for the academic performance of students pursuing an engineering degree. This research found that a general picture of the performance of the group is enough to improve, despite the forecast for each student not being accurate. This allowed the instructor to adapt their teaching technique to get better results. Finally, most students agree to take advantage of LA and they think that knowing their predictive results at the beginning of the course will help them do better in class.

The opportunity to bring real experience to the classroom in order to promote active learning and student engagement is achieved through extended realities as virtual reality (VR). The use of VR cases in engineering education has promote a flexible learning space (real industrial facilities) and the increasing of the students´ motivation. This research had the objective to evaluate the impact of using VR cases versus using traditional cases in two different campi of a private university, in the same academic course during 2 weeks. The methodology has 3 phases: (1) case design with VR and with the traditional paper case format, (2) application of the cases (VR and traditional) in two groups (no control group, it was the same group). (3) Results analysis based on observations, direct surveys, and students reports. This experience contributed to understand the dynamics of the case methodology under two perspectives: students and professors. While real experience, innovation, and fun represent the student’s perspective using VR to understand layout facilities and work design as real application concept, from a professor’s perspective this experience derived in more student engagement, critical thinking and systemic perspective. In addition, the process to develop VR cases was for itself an interesting challenge from academic and industrial possibilities, but allows us to develop active learning in-and out- of the classroom.

This study focuses on the usability of a remote laboratory as part of a massive, open and online course, better known as MOOC. The MOOC course for basic principles of Electric Energy is part of a Binational Laboratory project for the Intelligent Management of the Energy Sustainability and the Technological Formation, which has as one of its main objectives to train Spanish-speaking people, particularly from Mexico and Latin America, over topics of energy sustainability through MOOCs. Furthermore, the objective of this research work is to analyze the geographic scope of this massive remote laboratory, as well as the way the users work remotely on the platform. At present, by 2 times offered, the course enrolled 11087 participants and the MOOC Lab registered 3731 users that carry out 1705 lab sessions.