The teaching team of the Electronics area in the Department of Communications Engineering at Miguel Hernández University has been involved in teaching innovation projects since 2017. In all cases, the main objective has consistently been to improve students' practical skills and promote active learning. This responses to challenges observed in recent years, not only in the teaching activities of this area but also in scientific studies, which highlight significant difficulties for students in acquiring practical skills.

This study focuses on an electronics course delivered in a face-to-face format across three different engineering degrees: Mechanical Engineering, Energy Engineering, and Electronics and Automation Engineering. More than 150 students are enrolled in the course, which presents a challenge when it comes to conducting practical laboratory sessions. Currently, it is only possible to increase the number of laboratory workstations by one each academic year, reaching 16 complete workstations by 2024. Combined with the students’ tight schedules and limited laboratory availability, this situation forces practical groups to include up to 50 students, who then have to share the workstations.

Given this context, the teaching team decided to implement a flipped classroom methodology, allowing students to maximize their time outside the classroom by advancing through initial content before the practical sessions. This requires the use of digital tools to "virtualize" the electronics laboratory for hybrid learning. Based on the experience from the previous academic year, the current 2024 proposal aims to compare two electronic circuit simulation tools: Falstad and Tinkercad. Accordingly, efforts were focused on creating explanatory videos to help students better understand the practical sessions, which were conducted in a flipped format using these simulation tools. Additionally, students were divided into groups (test and control) to gather quantitative evidence for valid comparisons and hypothesis testing. Moreover, tools such as Edpuzzle and YouTube enabled students to preview the practical sessions and allowed for dynamic assessment.

The general assessment of this proposal measured several performance indicators, including:
i) the assimilation of practical procedures after watching the videos and simulating with Falstad and Tinkercad, before face-to-face laboratory sessions;
ii) mastery of practical design procedures, such as circuit implementation;
iii) autonomy in finding solutions to real engineering problems; and iv) self-assessment of achievement and satisfaction with the program.

The results are supported by hypothesis testing, which compares the acquisition of practical skills among students who participated in the proposal (using Falstad and/or Tinkercad) versus those who followed the traditional face-to-face methodology.

Keywords: Electronics, flipped classroom, circuit simulation.