No abstract

The engineering department of EAFIT University have developed and implemented an evaluation and training virtual system directed to the engineering students that take the Statics course. The system allows the students of several engineering programs to execute different exercises about specific topics included in the syllabus. The system also allows assessing the students' knowledge through weekly quizzes. With the implementation of the evaluation system, the engineering department aimed at improving the academic performance and the learning process of the students. This paper presents the results of a structural equation modeling analysis. The variables included in the analysis were; time of use of the system, results in quizzes and midterm exams grades assigned by the lecturers. The purpose of the analyses was to test the effect of time of use of the system and grades in the quizzes on academic performance represented by midterm grades (paper-based format). The analysis was performed with the data obtained from both, the virtual system and the course grades during year 2014. The findings suggest that both the time of use of the virtual system and good results in the quizzes have a positive influence on the midterm exams results. Therefore, it is concluded that the use of the virtual evaluation system has a positive effect on the students' academic performance.