SURVEY RESULTS OBTAINED BY THE STUDENTS FOR THE “FUNDAMENTALS OF MATERIALS” SUBJECT DURING 2013-2014 ACADEMIC YEAR

“Fundamentals of Materials” is an obligatory subject of Curriculum Degree in Architectural Technology at University of Burgos. It is integrated in the first semester module “Chemistry and Geology” and is running of the First Year of the Degree with six ECTS credits.
For this reason, is one of the subjects which the students take the first contact with the discipline of Construction Materials, being one of the first specific skills that help them to develop the Building Sector requirements.

We have provided a set of activities for the student’s evaluation, each one with different weighting in the final score:
• First of all, the theoretical exam with a rating of 40% in the final grade.
• In addition, a practical exam with exercises, in which case studies are solved from the knowledge developed in the classroom. Its rating is 25% of final score.
• The labs are evaluated in an oral assessment, which has a 15% weight in the final grade.
• Furthermore, within the continuous and comprehensive evaluation, students work in the classroom, being a 10% of the final grade.
• Personal student’s homework is also evaluated with 10% of the final grade.

The criteria for considering that the student has passed all capability tests proposed are:
a) The theoretical exam, the problems exam and the practice exam are positively evaluated if the student earns a grade equal to or greater than 4.5 points, achieved in the first or second sittings.
b) The evaluation of the proposed work, either in the classroom or in the non-instructional time, will be evaluated before exams. The grade obtained is maintained for the Ordinary or Extraordinary Call.
c) The student will obtain the Positive Evaluation by reaching more than 5 points, considering the final qualification the sum up of each activity for the final grade.

Therefore, as a conclusion, the research presented analyzes the overall results obtained by students in the two official calls, first and second, and the final result.

With the intention to analyze the evolution of the students, the results of each of the tests are also reviewed in every call, individually or in groups, in addition to the results of each Thematic Unit of the theoretical content, each type of problems proposed and each assessable activity.

Results obtained allowed us to obtain an overview on the performance of students in the different activities proposed, enabling the responsibility of the teachers and the development of strategies that provide a better preparation of our students.