This study aims to evaluate students' perceptions regarding the teaching strategies (TS) used in the Calculus 1 course, as well as their potential influence on the academic performance of first-year engineering students. Based on a systematic literature review and theoretical models related to university students' performance—which indicate that the quality of educational actions has a positive impact on learning—a Likert-scale questionnaire was developed and administered to first-year students from two prestigious engineering institutions, one in Brazil and the other in France. Six TS categories were assessed: clarity and content mastery, organization and management, collaborative learning, diversity of teaching strategies, assessment, and classroom environment. Academic performance was used as the dependent variable, and inferences were drawn through descriptive statistics and hypothesis testing (T-test or Mann-Whitney test). Overall, students from French and Brazilian institutions reported that the most frequently used TS were associated with clarity and content mastery, organization and management, and classroom environment. Conversely, the least utilized strategies, according to students from the French institution, were related to assessment and the diversity of teaching strategies, whereas students from the Brazilian institution identified assessment and collaborative learning as the least employed. When considering stratified samples based on student's performance in the course, results revealed a convergence in student perceptions (regardless of the institution) regarding the classroom environment category, which was among the most frequently used. This suggests that instructors aim to create an appropriate atmosphere for learning, fostering open dialogue and promoting respect, equality, courtesy, and tolerance. Additionally, there was a consensus that assessment-related strategies were among the least utilized, particularly those involving feedback provision, self-assessments, and diversification of assessment methods. Furthermore, only the category related to assessment strategies exhibited a statistically significant difference between high- and low-performing students at the French institution, suggesting that their perceptions of other TS categories were similar. On the other hand, for the Brazilian institution, significant differences were observed across all TS categories when stratified by performance, indicating divergent perceptions of the teaching strategies used in Calculus 1 and suggesting that pedagogical strategies play a critical role in teaching and learning processes for this group. Given the consistency in students' opinions regarding assessment strategies at both institutions, it is inferred that practices such as frequent questioning in class, diversifying assessment methods, providing constructive (especially individualized) feedback, and offering content reassessments in Calculus could help instructors refine their teaching approaches. These measures would enable a more immediate evaluation of students' learning progress and provide targeted, proactive support to students facing difficulties, ultimately contributing to lower failure rates in the course.

Keywords: Engineering education, mathematics, calculus, teaching strategies.