Evaluating innovative practices in university education. Validation of instrument

Abstract

This work describes the design and validation process of a questionnaire that gauges and analyses the degree of preference and usefulness of developing innovative alternative proposals expressed by university students taking courses through Project and Research Work (PTI); a dynamic based on the active and cooperative flipped classroom; a formative evaluation   that takes into account both the process and the result using rubrics that assign valuation on different levels of achievement; diversity and plural materials or the progressive monitoring of the productions through learning folders, among others. Through a methodological design of the survey type (descriptive and transversal), the instrument is articulated around 46 items grouped into five dual response categories -student preference and teacher preference- analysed following application with 640 university students. The outcomes obtained offer satisfactory psychometric qualities of the instrument that allow us to consider its use to measure the preference     and usefulness of factors associated with the processes of change through innovations in university education, also, the dates indicate consistency at the two preference levels and the response trend is defined. The conclusions provide reliable references on the proposal of teaching innovation and show the effectiveness and usefulness for learning that students assign to different aspects developed during the project regarding: strategies used, material or resources, type of support, evaluation and performance. The data serve  to correct certain educational proposals and improve models to continue advancing in alternative approaches. This research helps to understand and transform transformative practices in the university.