TWO DIFFERENT MODULES, TWO DIFFERENT DEGREES AND SAME PROBLEMS: EXPERIENCES OF ADAPTATION TO THE BOLOGNA TEACHING SCHEMATA
Universidad de Murcia (SPAIN)
About this paper:
Appears in:
ICERI2010 Proceedings
Publication year: 2010
Pages: 339-344
ISBN: 978-84-614-2439-9
ISSN: 2340-1095
Conference name: 3rd International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation
Dates: 15-17 November, 2010
Location: Madrid, Spain
Abstract:
In Spain, as in other European countries, the Bologna Declaration is having a profound impact on the structure of degree programmes and consequently on teaching and learning. This new credit system is radically transforming the philosophy of university teaching as well as changing the role of teachers and students at tertiary level. One of the key elements in the new teaching schema is the autonomous work that the student should carry out.
Some of the first commitments of the Bologna Declaration were the establishment of a credit system, the promotion of mobility by making courses compatible, the promotion of European cooperation, and the promotion of the necessary European dimensions in higher education. The Prague Declaration emphasized lifelong learning education and the complete involvement of both institutions and students in the whole process. This last objective implies not only the presence of students as an active part of the entire process, but also the pedagogic dimension of making them adopt an active role in their own learning process.
The adaptation to the Bologna Process has brought about radical changes in university teaching as far as methodologies and assessment are concerned and also in the outcomes of learning that are now not stated in terms of goals, as they have traditionally been, but in terms of competencies to be acquired. The roles of teachers and students have also drastically shifted from the teacher-centred lectures schema to the ECTS student-centred schema. The credits allocated to each module were previously measured in terms of the contact hours between teachers and students in the classroom. At present, the assignment of credits is awarded in terms of the workload the student must carry out to successfully pass the module, which includes both the contact hours and the independent study hours. Similarly, evaluation does not only depend on the final exam but on the control of attendance and participation in the different programmed activities
Despite the new procedures and the information students have on the structure of the classes, students seem not to be completely aware of the changes and consequently they do not fully adapt to the new methodologies. In this paper we will describe the way
the modules of English for Law taught in the first year of the Degree in Law and Introduction to Iconography offered in the first year of the Degree in Art History have been organised and the problems that have arosen .