Abstract:

Teaching at university should follow evidence-based methodologies in order to improve the learning quality of our students. In this line, successful educational actions were implemented in the Psychology degree aimed to perform the methodologies which have been more supported by research to date. In the case of the subject Developmental Psychology I, the action called "Seminar with the article in hand" was implemented during academic year 2016/2017, as a classroom practice in the first issue about Introduction, theoretical models and developmental contexts. This practice is expected to develop the specific competence number 1, i.e. to know the functions, characteristics and limitations of the different theoretical models. It was based on the lecture of three articles by eminent authors, indexed in journals with high impact factor, which addressed three different topics included in the curriculum regarding risk and protective factors during development. Specifically, these articles were excellent reviews on child maltreatment and its negative consequences for development, the risk for psychopathology in children of depressed mothers, and the behavioral phenotype of children with alcohol spectrum disorders. So, these papers also target different life stage periods, from prenatal development to late childhood. In each text, students were invited to read and make a brief summary. Then, students should select one idea (one sentence, for example) that has attracted their attention in each text, and justify why that idea was selected, what consequences for child development could be derived, and what kind of interventions could be suggested in order to promote resilience. A debate was generated in class in order to present and discuss about each idea, and explain all these contents with the guidance of the professor. At the end of the class, students submitted their summaries and reflections on the moodle platform. The application of this successful methodology was effective to teach the contents and it was also positively valued by students, as a more active and participative way of learning. Results from the satisfaction enquiries revealed excellent scores in learning resources, participation, motivation, organization and overall satisfaction with teaching work.

Keywords:

Higher education, teaching, learning, evidence-based, experience, innovation, psychology.