PRACTICAL SESSIONS: A KEY TOOL FOR TEACHING IN THE EUROPEAN HIGHER EDUCATION AREA FRAMEWORK

Abstract

New degrees adapted to the so called European Higher Education Area (EHEA) arising from the Bologna Declaration of 1999 have began to be widespread taught in the academic year 2010-2011. This has brought about a small revolution in universities, regarding that the modification of well-established methods and concepts has been required. Being aware of the new requirements, many educational centres have conducted pilot courses during previous years, with the aim of making the transition as smooth as possible.One of the new concepts used is the focus on the hours that an undergraduate student dedicates to the understanding of a subject, including all activities undertaken in this context (theoretical classes, practical classes, labs, group work, site visits, independent study, examinations, etc ...), as well as the promotion of a more applied teaching. Another new feature is the inclusion of the acquisition by the student of the so-called transversal skills (teamwork, goal planning, public speaking, etc.) among the objectives of a course, besides the particular knowledge and specific skills of the subject.In this article, two experiences that the Group of Educational Innovation on Applied Thermodynamics at Industrial Engineering School of Industrial Engineers of Madrid has made to adapt the teaching of Thermodynamics in this new European framework are described. They are thought to be fully exportable to other areas of engineering. So on, in the first activity, some basic concepts are now acquired in a lab activity that replaces a master class. For that purpose, the previous restatement of the lab session is needed, because traditionally the theoretical concepts had been acquired by the students before attending it. The second activity is designed to acquire some of the transversal skills the engineer is supposed to have at the beginning of his professional career, and which, in the new context, must be incorporated in the teaching objectives and even must be evaluated.