Active methodologies in Financial Management classes: an alternative to the traditional teaching method for awakening intrinsic motivation and developing autonomy

Abstract

This article presents a pedagogical experience in Financial Management classes. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the educational activity based on active methodologies, applied in the Financial Management classes in an undergraduate course in Business Administration, can offer formative spaces that enhance the development of the students’ intrinsic motivation to the point of being relevant to the development of their autonomy and thus to be characterized as a viable manner of putting the Freirean pedagogy into practice. In order to do so, the adopted teaching strategy aimed at creating opportunities for interpretating problems that simulated real situations. A questionnaire was applied and the Bardinian content analysis was used to verify the students' impressions about the activity itself and its respective contribution to their professional and personal training. The analysis points to the fact that active methodologies are viable alternatives to the traditional method of teaching regarding the awakening of interest, motivation and the development of learning. It also points to their consonance with the Freirian pedagogy.