Abstract:

This work pretends to overcome the Bologna Plan application for one mathematical subject at the first course in the Agronomic Engineering of Madrid (E.T.S.I.A.), which belongs to the Technical University of Madrid (U.P.M.).

Because our students often abandon that subject earlier, authors are considering that a proper planning of teaching and learning is a necessary factor but it is not sufficient to reach that our students’ absenteeism can be reduced.

Authors are of the opinion that a suitable assessment is required in addition in order to improve educational quality. The initiative of this work comes from observing our students’ passive attitude in the last years. New information and communications technologies (ICTs) permit that theoretical classes be imparted using last technological advances: projections, transparencies, audio, video, etc…; moreover information is offered via the Internet to student, so he becomes a tax payer, or passive subject in class. Every time students take fewer notes at class, and consequently they forget the achieved knowledge more easily in a relatively short-term and it harms his continuation of the discipline.

But in addition it is considered convenient that student achieves not only the assigned knowledge for each discipline, but even ‘the transversal abilities and skills that university students share in common’, such as concepts analysis and synthesis, information right management and written communication improvement and others…

That may be guided by some actions of Academic Evaluation Methodology and by the incorporation of various assessment tools or evaluation tools that are somehow indicated in the report.

Keywords:

Assessment, absenteeism, mathematics, knowledge, abilities and skills.