Abstract:

The acquisition of theoretical and practical knowledge, and the skills to be achieved, are clear in the development of the different subjects in the Biology Degree and are described in the teaching guidelines. Moreover, coordination between teaching groups is essential to increase the efficiency of students' learning, but it often supposes a challenge. It should keep in mind not only developing skills and knowledge but also to know the legal aspects related to professional practice in various fields of science; specifically, the knowledge in the field of health and environmental sciences. For this reason, the present project aimed to achieve the collaboration and coordination of teachers of different specialties related to biology. Teachers from several disciplines (physiology, ecology, biochemistry, molecular biology, botany) collaborated in 5 meetings so the legislation that would be applicable to the different fields were discussed to be integrated in the same subject, "The legal framework of biology", included in the curriculum as optional in the last year of the Biology Degree. At the end of the academic year, the students' perception was evaluated by means of a survey that revealed the positive and negative aspects of the subject with a common basis, the legislation. They answered quantitative questions (0-10) and open questions. From the meetings, several laws (local, national and European) were evaluated to be implicated in the different areas of interest related to the biology, which allowed to be included in the programme of the subject. In addition, it was also discussed the need of knowing the application of the laws in the real world, so the idea of inviting different experts to speak about their jobs related to the legislation was carried out. The committee divided the guidelines to be included in two big legislative blocks, ecology (also including terrestrial and marine organisms), and human and animal research. The survey that the students (n=19) answered indicated that the inclusion of the different disciplines in the subject was highly interesting (9.5±0.2) and the subject organization was notable. Moreover, the satisfaction related to the expectations, understanding and assimilation of concepts, and acquisition of skills for problem solving were also positively evaluated (around 9 every aspect) achieving enough tools related to legislation (8.9±0.2). The inclusion of talks by experts in human health research and in the creation of a marine reserve was highly valued for all the students, since they indicated these talks offered a high level of learning and were very interesting; indeed, some student indicated that it would be a positive improvement including more seminars. Finally, in the open questions, the most relevant answers were related to the importance of subjects based in several laws, that although are hard to learn or understand, are necessary for the insertion into real working life; in fact, the students highlighted that the subject allowed them to know the different professional opportunities. Moreover, the students indicated that it would be ideal to have more hours of this subject to settle the new knowledge and understand the legislation more deeply, including the proposal of more applied exercises (a study tool already included). In conclusion, the integration of several laws in a same subject with the intervention of experts with a point of view applied to real jobs was highly valued by students.

Keywords:

Biology, coordination, legislation.