IMPLANTATION OF DEGREE IN FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE BOLOGNA PROCESS

The implantation of degree in Food Science and Technology during the two last academic years, generated a new situation for most of the University lecturer involved. In these sense the academic transition from secondary school to University requires that students must adapt to new situations and therefore they must develop attitudes and skills that facilitate change.
This new situation involves changes in teaching approach to the learning process, characteristic of the reform and the Bologna Process, and as is well known that seek to encourage student involvement in their own learning process and fostering their personal work development of other skills different those of the acquisition of knowledge.
The aim of this work was the development of teaching strategies that facilitate the adaptation of secondary students to University education system.
Information was collected on actual levels of skills and capabilities related to the subjects taught by participating professors (Biology, Food and Culture and Sensory Analysis). These data were processed and provided the basis for programming activities and strategies to be developed.
The results seem to show that students expect that activities such as visits to industries and conference and activities are included as usual activities, followed by group work and actions that will raise awareness about the future career prospects. This is not strange for us because of the practical nature of Food Science and Technology studies, especialy in the higher grades. However, the results show that the new students seem unaware that for proper development of their professional work it is also necessary “intellectual” knowledge and the acquisition of basic skills that enable them to understand and develop their actions. From these results it was necessary to plan strategies to encourage in them the desire to acquire basic knowledge and practical abilities.
In conclusion, the implantation of the basic principles of Bologna in the new degrees is a gradual process and it should be viewed with caution. The key to their success or failure lies in the detection of deficiencies in the learning process and the implementation of improvement strategies, all conducted under supervision of multidisciplinary teams of University lectures.