Abstract:

The Degree in Applied Biology offered by the Department of Biology of University of Minho consisted, until 2007, of four curricular years, with mandatory and optional course units. With the adjustment of high education degrees to the Bologna Process, the majority of first cycle courses’ curricula, including the Degree in Applied Biology, decreased from four to three years, comprising a total of 180 European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS), to be concretized in 6 semesters. The mandatory course units give basic formation, and at the Degree in Applied Biology they encompass from the study of the cell (its structural and functional components and its molecular biology and genetics) till the study of organisms, populations and communities. The optional course units, offered on the last year(s) of the degree, have the aim to redirect the basic training of the students in accordance with their future interests. This work regards the experience of the option, “Biology of Freshwater Pollution” included in the study plan of Applied Biology during 2004/05 and 2005/06. This course unit with 6 ECTS was offered on the 2nd semester of third year degree. Considering the world’s water crisis, the syllabus of this option emphasizes the role of the biologist in water resource management on Twenty-First century. The main learning outcome took into account the development of skills to assess water quality and wastewater treatments efficiency using biotic indices. Theoretical and practical classes on a total of 24 and 39 hours respectively were given on Mondays over 14 weeks in 2004/2005 and on a modular way (along 4 weeks) in 2006/2007. The students who enrolled on “Biology of Freshwater Pollution” were invariably very interested; the questionnaire made at the beginning of the course was corroborated by the final results. According to Bologna’ spirit, the methodologies of teaching and learning used, as well as the assessment methodology applied, led to a high degree of success. The students’ satisfaction expressed by the teamwork realized and by the final results obtained by all. Although there is less time to include optional course units in the new first cycle courses’ curricula, the training provision with direct application in the labor market, including also contact with business employers, must be considered because great number of students need and/or want to leave its student life at the end of its first cycle course. The students who wanted to pursue with high education, showed an increasing interest in wastewater treatment research area, a topic not always considered by the biology students.

Keywords:

Optional course unit, biology, water pollution, labor market.