Abstract:

This paper presents an analysis of the development and the main results of the first semester of 2010/11 academic year of the new Natural Environmental Engineering degree at the School of Forestry and Natural environment hold at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, according to the European Higher Education Area guidelines.
During the previous year, most trainers responsible for the five subjects of this semester collaborated in the developing of a comprehensive plan to be implemented in the current course. The main academic features as timetables, the distribution of both compulsory and voluntary activities and the evaluation activities were planned, as well as the information required from students to allow an integral academic and professional following of students career.
This year, the lectures have continued close cooperation by the participation in the biweekly meetings of the Academic Coordination Commission of the Course and in an Innovation Educational Project funded by the University, carrying out tasks of monitoring and making the necessary adjustments to the right running of the semester.
We have analysed the income profile of students, using data provided by them on the welcome day and other taken from their high school CV, such as optional subjects studied in high school and marks obtained in the University Access Exam, as well as participation in the comprehensive tutorial program. These data will allow on one hand to adjust the course development to new students, carrying out specific support actions when required, and on the other hand, to discuss relationships with the results obtained at the end of the first semester.
Students opinion regarding the degree of satisfaction with various aspects of course planning, such as their perception about the difficulty and demands of courses and continuous and summative assessment methods are also analyzed in this paper.
This analysis will lead to a proposal for improvements to be made in organizing the first semester of next year 2011/12.

Keywords:

European Higher Education Area, educational innovation, academic coordination.