Abstract:

The Degree of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts of the University of Alicante has as main objective the integral formation of professionals with the necessary knowledge to understand and exercise in any activity and professional situation related to the gastronomic sciences. More specifically, the first course of this degree is defined by a teaching load of 42 credits of basic training and 18 credits corresponding to compulsory subjects. Based on the objectives and competences of the first course, the student must acquire, in addition to specific skills, basic and general skills such as reading and understanding texts in a foreign language, demonstrate skills and abilities in computer science and demonstrate skills in oral and written communication. To these competences it is necessary to add the acquisition of the necessary knowledge to perform basic laboratory operations as well as the ability to perform simple mathematical calculations and basic statistical notions. This work focuses on the challenge of developing transversal activities to improve general and basic student’s skills [1].

In the 2018/2019 academic year, an average of 60 students (depending on the subject) were enrolled in the first course of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts degree, to which they were given an initial questionnaire in order to know their prior knowledge and academic trajectory. Based on the obtained results, some deficiencies were detected such as: insufficient computer skills, insufficient ability to read and understand a foreign language and poor ability to write academic works. In order to improve these deficiencies, the following educational actions have been carried out in the science subjects:
a) Reading a scientific research article in English,
) Seminar of materials of laboratory and basic laboratory operations,
c) Basic mathematical calculations. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of these approaches, some instruments were developed collecting qualitative data through continuous students and professor feedback.

As a result of the present project, new teaching tools are available that have made possible to improve the basic skills of the students.

References:
[1] Assessment of transversal skills 2020 (ATS2020). Project co-funded by the European Comission. http://ats2020.eu/

Keywords:

Gastronomy, Culinary Arts, Transversal Competences, Collaborative Learning, Autonomous Learning.