Valoración de la utilidad de la Química por estudiantes de Ingeniería Mecánica: Efecto de una propuesta didáctica

An investigation about usefulness of chemistry in engineering students formation according to their perception is shown. In particular, it is intended to discover how useful Chemistry is for first year Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering students and how to help students improve their views on the usefulness of chemistry. It has carried out a teaching proposal into 2 groups and then, the results were compared with another group, which has not been done this teaching proposal. The assessments and justifications of the students about the usefulness of chemistry were obtained at the beginning and end of the course, through a task that should be noted in a Likert scale of 1 to 4 and an open question to give reasons for its assessment. It was found differences in the assessment of the usefulness of chemistry between the groups which have participated in the teaching proposal and another one, which has not participated in it. It also found a strong agreement between ratings on a Likert scale and justifications provided. The results support the teaching proposal, showing the importance of the usefulness of chemistry for their training and professional future, although it is considered necessary to further this line.