PROFITTING STUDENTS’ JOB EXPERIENCES AT CLASS: ACQUIRING PERSPECTIVES FOR PROFESSIONAL FUTURE

The adaptation of European Higher Education to the Bologna Declaration requirements is reporting important changes to the University studies and some of these changes are related to the quality improvement in Higher Education. In fact, this is one of the goals of the Bologna declaration since it was signed in 1999 by most of the Education ministers in the UE. In this sense, modernization of learning/teaching methodologies becomes fundamental. The UPV is involved in this process and several efforts are being done to improve its education quality. This paper shows an experience in innovative educational methodology application to Technical Engineering Degrees, especially in environmental subjects in this University. This experience is based on students’ collaboration at class as an additional tool to make the learning/teaching process more effective.
The way of giving classes is being seriously reviewed in the Bologna process. Nowadays classes based on the only teacher speech and the passive role of the student in the classroom just listening to the teacher should not be acceptable. The learning/teaching process must evolve and get adapted to the modern education requirements. To get this, a modern education must profit every chance to assure the concepts to be transmitted by the teacher are understood and learned by the students. Basically, the way of giving classes has changed and Higher Education must be adapted to these changes.
Taking into account our previous experiences in the field of innovative education and learning/teaching process improvement by several strategies, we have developed some experiences based on emotional intelligence (empathy, assertivity, social skills), students active role at class and session flexibility to adapt them to the group characteristics and subjects to be given. In this field, we have developed an additional strategy to the above mentioned.
In this paper we explain the innovative application of this methodology in our classes. It consists on promoting the relationship among students in the classroom and using this relationship to help the knowledge transmission – acquisition process by the students. We also show how we have applied this methodology to the specific case of transmitting job experiences of the students to the rest of the group. We have also developed this kind of experiences with alumnus and, in some cases, we have even used this methodology when working with teachers in a particular experience developed in a Brazilian University (UNIJUI). In some cases, these experiences have been developed in short periods of time in the classroom but, in other particular cases, seminar sessions have been used to explain these job experiences.
The obtained results encourage us to continue using alternative strategies that lead us to diversify our learning/teaching methodologies. In this way, we improve our way of giving classes and collaborate in achieving the Bologna Declaration goal of improving Higher Education quality.