**2. About the study sample**

To investigate an answer to this question, we considered a sample of students who take the course of Classical Mechanics Laboratory parallel to the theoretic class of Classical Mechanics. These subjects are dictated by a higher education institution for students of the Common Plan of the Engineering area. The sample is constituted by 240 students distributed in five theoretical courses, with an average of 40 students.

The collaborative learning process that is analyzed relates to the Classical Mechanical Laboratory courses whose content base of 12 experimental activities, each of 90 minutes, programmed during a semester. A "typical" laboratory course was formed by 12 students, which grouped into four teams of three students each. The creation of teams of only women, only men, and mixed were encouraged to study, also, the relationship between gender and learning in science. The selection of the courses is made without any other a priori criteria (notes, social origin, and others). The achievement of significant learning is examined through laboratory reports developed and delivered periodically by the teams of students for each activity plus two cumulative tests with questions about alternatives and development.

The students correspond to their vast majority (90%) to the first family generation in entering higher education.
