TOWARDS THE EUROPEAN SPACE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION: QUALITY OF THE TUTORIALS

Objective:
To evaluate the quality of the tutorial sessions of the matters Biopharmacy and Pharmaceutics (BP) and Pharmaceutical Technology (PT) organised in the pilot groups of the School of Pharmacy of the University of Valencia

Introduction:
According to nowadays needs to adapt to the European Higher Educational Space there is an important compromise to potentiate the role of the student. They have to be the mains responsibles of their own learning. One of those changes includes the organization of small groups, tutorials, to discuss particular thematics of the matters in order to facilitate the understanding, the knowledge of the practical implications of the subject and the acquisition of different skills, that can not be achived in bigger groups.

Methods
Two pilot groups, one in the third year of the Pharmacy studies, corresponding to the matter Biopharmacy and Pharmaceutics (24 students), and another of the fourth year, Pharmaceutical Technology with 17 students.
During the total of 16 h of tutorials organized, of one hour and a half each, in groups of 10 students, the subjects selected were:
-Resolution of students personal doubts
-Practicing exams questions
-Solving numerical problems
-Critical reviews of scientific articles of the matter
-Specific subjects:
oBioequivalence studies and informatics in BP
oEuropean Pharmacopeia revision and interpretation
To evaluate the quality of the tutorial a poll with 15 questions concerning structure, contents, and profitment were distributed to the students.

Results
Concerning the structure, number of students/group and lenth of the sesions, students agreed that they were adequate (88-75% en BP y 82-71% en PT).
In relation with the appropiateness of the activity there was diversity of opinions: 33% of the students of BP, in front of 71% of PT, would participate in case of being voluntary.
About the contents: 84% in BP, and 100% in PT, agreed that the subjects selected by the teacher were appropiate, while their opinion is that teachers should decide them with the students before.
Both group agreed that although the tutorials reprent good oportunities to discuss scientific matters with the teacher their prefer to pratice the exams. Only 50% of the students considered the activity of ‘critical reviews of scientific articles’ profitous, and some students considered that this activity could be substituted by other. The main reason for these considerations was that it was not matter of exams and represents an effort, since articles were in english.
The profitment was very high in both groups: more than 75% of the students of BP, and 94% in PT, had prepared the sessions in advance and had revised the information provided by the teacher after them.
More than 80% of the students, of each group, agreed that the attendance to the tutorial have been adventageous for the understanding of the matters, and helpful for the study. They had also possitively valuated to solve doubts in group. 88% of BP, and 65% in PT felt that with the tutorials got an understanding of the practice of each matter.

Conclusions
There is a high degree of satisfaction of the tutorials. The high pertentaje of students that had prepared the tutorials in advance and that had rewieved the informations afterwards demostrates the interest of the students in this activity, and reprents a way to increase the attention in the matters.