Abstract:

Some pilot experiences were initiated in the University of Córdoba (UCO ahead) in the year 2004/2005 for the implementation of the ECTS. The main goal of this experiment was to offer traditional teachers a previous training to get adapted to the new European Space for Higher Education (EEES ahead).
One of the actions that this experiment involved was to appoint ‘Coordinators for Degrees in Pilot Experiences’, according to an agreement of March 28th 2007 (Consejo de Gobierno, UCO) which was later modified (Nov. 30th 2007). These Coordinators get official acknowledgement, as well as a bonus for their work. Their competences are, among others: (1) to promote the elaboration, coordination, circulation and implementation of the competences of their degree; (2) to favour the creation of teaching groups to facilitate the review of the different syllabi, as well as to implement different criteria of coordination for the teaching of such degree; and (3) to elaborate a report that integrates needs, actions and future proposals for the correct process of implementation.

Nowadays, 25 degrees out of the 41 in the UCO are under these pilot experiences, so there are 25 Coordinators in total. Our goal in this article is to analyze what have been their actions and strategies to study the strengths and weaknesses detected (which will be taken into account for the design and implementation of the new degrees in our University). We will make an analysis of their yearly reports, indicating the most meaningful actions carried out. Such analysis will be complemented with their opinions and perceptions, gathered in a focus group (Canales, 2006).

So, our research is framed in the interpretative approach of educational research, also taking into account its transformational and critical dimensions (Pozuelos y Travé, 2004). We identify the following dimensions for our analysis (Sandín, 2003): (1) Design and supervision of the Teaching Guides; (2) Analysis of the competences of each Degree in the different subjects; (3) Analysis of the systems of evaluation; (4) Analysis of the working time for the students; (5) Analysis of the already existent teaching criteria; (6) Analysis of teacher training actions for the teachers of the degree; (7) Analysis of the strengths; (8) Analysis of the weaknesses, and (9) Proposals for improvement.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES:
Canales, M. (2006). El Grupo de Discusión y el Grupo Focal. In M. Canales (ed.), Metodologías de Investigación Social. Santiago de Chile, 265-287.
Pozuelos, F. y Travé, G. (2004). Aprender investigando, investigar para aprender: el punto de vista de los futuros docentes. Investigación en la Escuela, 54, 5-25.
Sandín, M.P. (2003). Investigación cualitativa en educación. Fundamentos y tradiciones. Madrid: McGraw-Hill.

Keywords:

european higher education area, coordination, competences, ects.