Abstract:

One of the main disadvantages involved in the development of new university studies comes from a insufficient training of the students in the secondary education which later does not allow them to understand the university teaching. This means that students will need to overcome some contrasted difficulties in the university studies but specially that they often drop out of college suffering from some kind of frustration. From this perspective, in this paper we will offer our double vision, as secondary school teachers and university professors, in order to show some innovative teaching strategies that could be used to correct the deficiencies identified in the new university students, helping to improve their academic performance and personal satisfaction.

We want to emphasize two main points. First, we have identified certain gaps in the competences of our students in the early years in their university education. The innovative teaching, in a particular view, only insists on using the technological tools in the classroom. However, beyond the exact results, the technological skills are over-developed in our new students. Certainly, with the use of technology in the classroom we move the students closer to the teachers, but if we only use models based on technology we are not offering to the students a properly innovative experience. Especially if we are trying to introduce, as we wish, teaching strategies in the secondary school and in the colleges that want to ensure the acquisition of important skills in our students such as reading comprehension, development of thought and reflection, creativity…, in order to facilitate later the learning in the current context of the university education.

The second point we have detected is the existence of a significant gap affecting the whole of competencies established in the new university degrees: the personal abilities. In this sense, according to our experience, the students need a better comprehensive guidance to help them in their personal and academic development. We have discovered that we should offer an integrated formation plan for each of students, in the high school and in the college, if we want that these students achieve the positive development that the university syllabuses expect from them. We think that the implementation of a competence plan for personal development that we have called self-development, also linked to creativity, is a genuine cross-competence that will create, especially, true professionals and better people. In this paper we will try to explain, in a general sense, our strategies to encourage all the pre-university academic competencies, and particularly the self-development ability. We have also contrasted in some subjects where we have introduced this teaching model that students have improved their academic results. In addition, we have also tested that, with this competence model, our pupils have improved their personal satisfaction and the valuation about the classes and teachers was better.