Abstract:

In this communication a summary of the experience on introducing the Bologna system for the first time in the Electromagnetic Theory course is presented.
After many years of teaching the topic in the same way, the introduction of the continuous evaluation (being this one of the bases of the Bologna implementation) in this course has been quite successful. The main changes in the teaching system have been the following: (1) the timing of the lectures, moving from the classical one hour length to one hour and a half and (2) the alternation between the big group (for theory lectures) and the small groups for exercises and more practical issues.
Besides, the final exam has a weight of the sixty per cent of the total evaluation points. The rest of the points are obtained by the students from:
-Three tests (10 per cent each) after the end of each one of the chapters
-Three labs (10 per cent total) each one of them related to each one of the chapters. In addition, after the realization of the lab in a computer room the student had to do as well an evaluation test about it.
Another important change was related to the final evaluation, as the extraordinary exam was repeated one month after the ordinary exam, instead of the traditional extraordinary exam in September in the Spanish system.
This is the first time we have made the continuous evaluation methodology and consequently, may be it is not totally reliable to consider the results as to extrapolate global conclusions. Nevertheless, the increase in the number of students passing the exam is, in our opinion meaningful and evidently related to the fact of the required continuous evaluation. The student, for the first time must prepare the subject along the course and cannot play with the last minute option. This implies a better understanding and assumption of the concepts.
Concerning the methodology, the web site of the course has been used to communicate with students and to give them support for the preparation fot the exams. In this sense, the web site provided them enough material for study as the course notes, previous exams with solutions, the partial test, etc.
An additional innovation in this experience was the implementation of what we call in Spanish 'clase-tienda' (translated as 'shop-lecture). These are a kind of common consulting hours in which the students and the teacher go to a classroom and the students ask questions about the issues which are more difficult for them, as well as, for instance to repeat some explanations about any part of the course or to solve some of the proposed assignments, etc. In this sense it is like a 'shop' as they (the students) decide what to teach about. The interesting part of this activity is that the common consulting, helps students who are specially shy to solve questions and doubts. Besides, it is of course a task for the teacher to incentive the participation, to answer with new questions and in summary to help the students to achieve the total assimilation of the most important concepts of the course.