The teaching itineraries of numerous subjects in two "Green Engineering" degrees at the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) —the bachelor’s degree in forestry engineering (GIF) and the bachelor’s degree in environmental technology engineering (GITA)— systematically incorporate practical classes, with varying degrees of intensity, based on "Research-based learning" methodologies. The main objective of these practical classes is to complete the acquisition of some of the competencies included in the Learning Guides for the corresponding subjects.

The objectives of this work were:
(i) to provide a procedure for exploiting the information available on the GAUSS platform on students' academic results in compulsory subjects corresponding to the GIF and GITA degrees at the UPM and
(ii) to analyze the impact of practical activities on these academic results as described in the Teaching Guides for the subjects analyzed.

For each subject analyzed, the total number of theoretical and practical classes was computed, allowing for their classification into four groups:
(i) Highly practical subjects: when the percentage of classes devoted to practical activities is between 68% and 100%;
(ii) Predominantly practical subjects: when the percentage of classes devoted to practical activities is between 50% and 68%;
(iii) Predominantly theoretical subjects: when the percentage of classes devoted to practical activities is between 35% and 50%;
(iv) Highly theoretical subjects: when the percentage of classes devoted to practical activities is below 35%.

Regarding the academic results recorded on the UPM's GAUSS platform, information on performance, success, and absenteeism rates has been collected for each subject from the first year of teaching in the current curriculum through the 2023-2024 academic year (the last year recorded in GAUSS to date). The results obtained have shown a different impact on students in the first years compared to those in the final years. Thus, first- and second-year students have significantly higher absenteeism rates in subjects with fewer practical classes, which are also those with the lowest success and performance rates. However, in the last two academic years, no clear pattern has been observed regarding the impact of practical classes on academic performance.

Keywords: Research-based learning, performance rates, success rates, absenteeism rates, forest engineering, environmental engineering.