Active Learning Methodologies in Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Mozambican Higher Education: Implementation Levels, Challenges, and Emerging Trends

Source abstract

This study critically examines the body of scientific literature production on active learning methodologies in Mozambican higher education, focusing on Natural Sciences and Mathematics. It addresses how the literature characterizes the implementation of these methodologies, with the aim of systematizing evidence on implementation levels, associated challenges, and emerging trends. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative structured narrative review, based on explicit criteria for search, selection, and analysis of scientific publications from the last decade. The analytical corpus comprises empirical studies conducted in the Mozambican higher education context, interpreted through theoretically grounded analytical categories. The findings indicate that the adoption of active learning methodologies remains limited, fragmented, and predominantly localized, often restricted to isolated participatory practices coexisting with traditional lecture-based models. The analysis also reveals multidimensional constraints, including infrastructural limitations, insufficient pedagogical training, curricular rigidity, and weak institutional support. Furthermore, significant gaps are identified in national scientific production, particularly the scarcity of longitudinal studies and the absence of systematic impact evaluations. The study contributes a critical and structured synthesis of the state of the art, clarifying the conditions, limitations, and trends shaping active learning implementation in this context.