Abstract:

Since the creation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) with the Bologna Declaration in 1999, many important changes have been carried out in higher education, not only related to new and more active-learning methodologies but also regarding evaluation techniques. In Spain, curricula and contents of syllabuses have been modified according to Real Decreto 861/2010 which states that the students must acquire a series of generic and specific outcomes to obtain the different university degrees. An outcome or competence can be defined as a complex knowledge oriented to do an act, and which requires the activation and combination of several personal resources to solve a concrete problem at a satisfactory level. Specific outcomes are related to knowledge, skills and attitudes within a content related to the profession, while core or generic ones are needed in all content domains and can be used in new situations within and outside the profession. These outcomes will provide the students with an added value in the current competitive job market. In this context, the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) initiated the Core Competencies Project two years ago to encourage the transmission and the accreditation of the acquisition by students of the 13 generic or transversal competencies (CT) defined in the UPV. The aim is to ensure that these CTs have been acquired by the graduates at least at a certain level during their studies. Three proficiency levels for these outcomes exist, depending on the degree or postdegree course.

The objective of this study was to work and evaluate the outcome ‘Application and practical thinking’ in the context of ‘Molecular Markers’, a compulsory course (6 ECTS) taught in the fourth semester of the Bachelor’s Degree in Biotechnology of the School of Agricultural Engineering and Environment, UPV. The lessons were taught in Spanish (native language of instructors and most of the students) or English, depending on the groups. In this work, several activities with which this outcome has been worked in the laboratory sessions and the rubrics employed to assess the level of acquisition by the students were analyzed. Differences in the results achieved using different learning strategies such as peer-learning or individual reports are analyzed. In addition, high correlation with the final mark for the course has been shown. The option that seems more successful is to work the outcomes in groups and evaluate them individually, as we need an outcome grade for every student.

Keywords:

Competency based curriculum, biotechnology, rubric.