Factors affecting the use of “Maker Route” E-learning management systems for the development of digital manufacturing skills in higher education-Engineering

The objective of the research was to explore needs, systematize interests, and show results that were achieved by students of the Universidad Continental during the 2023-10 period.The “Route Maker” program aims to provide knowledge of digital manufacturing 4.0 in virtual contexts that emerged from the pandemic as a necessity to reach students.During this academic cycle, students took advantage of the Fablab resources to enhance their experiential education and applied research, both within and outside the COVID-19 context.The research has an experimental design that used a sample of 220 students from the Faculty of Engineering and Health Sciences and Humanities.Qualitative measurement tools were applied through a focus group where the “Ruta Maker” Program was presented and information was systematized in 5 dimensions: Perception of online classes, motivation attitude on the teaching methodology, work and collaborative synergy, evaluation of the Route Maker and student expectations; as a quantitative measurement tool, surveys were applied on the Likert scale in 4 dimensions and their level of influence: attractiveness, reliability, content and academic quality, and purchase intention.The results show that visual appeal impacts the purchase intention of the “Route Maker”, confidence in online courses influences the perception of attractiveness, and academic quality influences the confidence to take digital courses.The “Route Maker” program includes successful cases of the application of digital manufacturing tools applied to health, biomedicine, social development, among others.The methodology used was non-experimental and had two well-defined phases.First, an exploratory factor analysis was performed.This analysis aimed to condense the information in the original variables into smaller series.Second, a confirmatory factor analysis was performed, using structural equation modeling.The structural model proposed, which uses academic achievement as a mediating variable, is explained by its variance by 63.6%.In conclusion, the content of the “Route Maker” Tele-education Program influences academic quality, because it allows students to learn about the scope of the Fablab, acquire technological skills, and ultimately consolidate themselves in projects with a positive impact.