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Could be easy to find interesting studies about the influence of some factors (personal, social, institutional, etc.) as facilitators or inhibitors of adequate academic transition from student's perspective. This paper describes the process of academic adjustment to high education college from the perspective of first-year teachers. Underlies also the relationship between faculty motivation and satisfaction and students retention. Collect opinions of first-year teachers could result of particular interest. They can have an important influence on students, being a reference for them. Could be possible to identify some profile of first year teachers, not only in terms of the characteristics of the discipline to be taught, but also the student's profile and the characteristics of the class groups. A statistical survey has been done to all first-year teachers at grades of Administration and Management (ADE) and Education studies, at the University of Barcelona. This survey was done at the end of the 2010-11 academic year, obtaining a rate 45% response. Sample includes "online comments" from faculty members. Statistical techniques as descriptive analysis and regression analysis, based on a principal components analysis, let identify relationships between variables. The study also collected qualitative results of the opinions of higher education teachers to incorporate personal aspects. Factors relating to teaching context are those that have a higher influence in faculty satisfaction. On the other hand, student previous academic preparation has a negative effect on it. Four factors were identified through a dimensional reduction of variables: teaching coordination and operation, teaching conditions, teaching experience and teacher gender. This paper would remark this point and suggest some improving needs for a first year teachers and those who have responsibilities on it. Results show how teachers' motivation and involvement decline slightly throughout the academic year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the extent to which students are able to assess their own learning and that of their peers (peer assessment and self-evaluation) through erubrica, standards and evaluation criteria proposed by the faculty in the configuration, design and development of project evaluation. This type of evaluation and self-assessment presumes in the New European space of Higher Education that students take a more active role in the learning process and the evaluation itself will serve in helping to achieve the knowledge of professional skills. Thus the use of new technologies in self-regulatory assessment processes allows the student to achieve an optimal, effective and quality performance in the proposed content, as much as in the development of them before the group, considering the act of evaluation as a process of improvement and learning through tools such as the erubrica that favor the "overall assessment"; that is, the assumption of all core competencies. This study has been carried out in the academic year 2011-2012, for two semesters with different core subjects (theory and child education policy and towards an inclusive school: patterns and practices) and with identical groups (Group 1, 1st degree of infant A as the experimental group; and Group 2, 1st degree of infant B, as the control group). This paper exposes the results of peer evaluation and self-evaluation through the implementation of projects, where students evaluate their peers and evaluate themselves by comparing the results with the assessment made by the teacher with their groups and each student individually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper assumes some relevant links connecting both, the reflection on student dropout and quality in Higher Education. The assumed frames locate the reflection on student dropout in a wider context than the most common studies do. That's it; the influence exerted by the tertiary education in the student's personal development and its socio-economic impact on the local contexts where it is such education is developed. Beyond it, the paper analyzes some of the more relevant data related to the dropout phenomena and some of the it most common evaluations on Higher Education in our country, besides considering some key biases detected in studies on dropout. To deepen the knowledge of this phenomenon means the development of high analytic criticism on previous studies and the frames they adopted in its analysis. Beyond the former analysis some feasible guidelines are proposed in order to build up better policies pointing at the dropout reduction in Higher Education. According to such proposal some key concepts are depicted for a more comprehensive approach to the phenomena. As a closing summary, they are illuminated by ten basic guidelines aiming at the institutional intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The e-portfolio used as a tool in the process of teaching and learning, provides students with opportunities for reflection so they can achieve improvements throughout their own learning process. This is also a powerful tool that accompanies the process of fulfilling changing requirements, ensuring strong involvement of students, increasing awareness of their own learning and progress, and emphasising the promotion and development of skill-based assessment. The e-portfolio has been implemented in nursing studies at the Universitat d'Andorra, in all the practical subjects, provides a wide range of activities that guide and assist in the teaching-learning process and shows the progress of students' improvement during their clinical training, in a transversal and longitudinal way throughout the first university level in nursing. In this paper, we analyze a group of 25 students of Bachelor of Nursing, and we clearly show how mentoring and monitoring the student during clinical training is very important, both to offer tracking of the activities thus helping their improvement, and to provide continuity and support. This tutoring offers the opportunity to reflect continuously on the activities and experiences in front of new real situations that involve new approaches, doubts and therefore evolution and progress. The results of implementing the e-portfolio shown in this paper, demonstrate the high level of participation and constancy of the students and their progress throughout clinical training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evaluation of learning remains one of the most contentious and difficult for teachers elements. Methodological and technical solutions as erúbricas they claim to solve this situation, knowing that teaching situations are very different so it can not be a single solution for all cases, but specific measures suited to contexts where teachers will arise help from communities of practice. This paper presents the evolution of a service erúbricas [1] which departed from the first experience paper rubrics, and with time and various educational projects first innovation and R & D + i [2] more later, it has evolved with the support of a community of practice [3] and the exchange of experiences between teachers and researchers. In this article showing the results and functionality of this service achieved to date of this publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the problems that has to be faced by university teachers is the large number of students that start doing a degree without actually knowing the professional profile they will have after finishing it, as well as without knowing what the profession they are being trained for actually consists in. Furthermore, one can usually find definitions of professional identities which only take into account the technical and legal aspects while overlooking emotional and social components. University provides us with an appropriate space for the development of that identity on the basis of a comprehensive concept of training. However, at the same time, the compartmentalized structures of the degrees, which are subdivided into different subjects, mean an obstacle for the implementation of that development. Hence, we decided to create a team of university teachers specialized in different subjects in order to suggest a proposal to be implemented in the classroom. This proposal is intended to put an end to the rigidity of a structure organized by subjects through the design and implementation of a number of joint activities whose ultimate aim is the acquisition of competences. This paper presents our personal views about the professional identity of those degrees relating to Economics and Business, suggesting a comprehensive team work proposal which integrates different views on different subjects in order to design activities which may help students to achieve a better understanding of their future profession. This paper includes a summary of the designed activities, the evaluation tools and the results of their implementation during the first years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tutoring is one of the methodological resources which has undoubtedly experienced a deepest evolution since the implantation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Tutorial conception as a merely legal obligation to address students' doubts has given rise to the use of tutorials as one of the most useful methods to develop certain skills and competences, in addition to its contribution to the learning of the subject in which they are inserted. This paper analyzes, from the perspective of developed innovative teaching experiences, the evolution of traditional mentoring until the current use that can be made of them as an interactive forum of equals, and, moreover, suggesting a classification. Finally, this paper shows a new breakthrough in the role of tutoring supported on new technologies as a suitable means of contrasting opinions, encouraging critical thinking and building student's autonomous thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to expose the emprise in curricular innovation of the Faculty of Humanities and Education (HUHEZI) at Mondragon University. This experience will be illustrated through the subject Cross-cultural Education and Values Education of the Teacher Training Degree (Infant and Primary Education Degrees). The practice described is located within the cooperative framework of Grupo Mondragón. This paper explains the keys and the institutional and collective process of the education project at HUHEZI. It portrays the development and the evolution of the subject afore mentioned from its early start (Teacher Training Degree in the academic year 2005-2006) to nowadays (2012- 2013). The core of the paper is the exposition of the organization of this subject, its methodology, participation means, staff training, its ongoing design, application, evaluation and the improvement of its cross-curricular perspective - all of which represent the main ingredients of the educational project of HUHEZI. Difficulties and challenges are also described, such as the need to balance the democratic means of participation with the academic and epistemological disciplines. The current financial struggle, the constant political alterations and the sudden socio-cultural changes are some other challenges to be faced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current crisis, unsustainable growth, financial scandals involves reflection on the role of universities in the professional training, particularly those who have to manage businesses. On this issue, there is a perception that the teaching of ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR) is insufficient (Baetz and Sharp, 2004; Kashyap et al., 2006). In this regard, universities play a fundamental role due both to the impact of the incorporation of CSR into the design of their study and research programs, and its incorporation into universities' mission, vision, and corporate strategy (Muijen, 2004). Then, the present study focuses jon analyzing both the definition of educational objectives and skills development to be acquired by students as the level of inclusion of CSR offered by Spanish universities. In particular, the present paper focuses on analyzing reports verified by National Agency for Quality Assessment of degrees related to the organizational management area implemented in the 2010-2011 academic course, which degrees has been developed based on European Higher Education Area. Based on previous papers, the results of the present paper show that the Bologna process and the Higher Education reform in Spanish universities have promoted an increase of the presence of CSR in the business education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the experience carried out by a confederation of Higher Education Institution (IUS) operating in six states of Latin America. To achieve the goal of new model of teaching and learning based on "learning process" and shift the paradigm of learning as "centered teaching", the Higher Education Institution have defined a new profile of the university teachers. This action expresses three characteristics presented in this paper: the first refers at the profile as "product" of a Community of Thought; the second refers to "participated process", a working model that allowed the co-construction of the profile with the teachers, the administrative and the human resources staff of the universities; the [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper relates two basic aspects of assessment evaluation in higher education (Formative Assessment and Competency Assessment) with the existence of an Inter-University Network that carries five years working these issues systematically. First, we analyze the state of the Formative and Shared Assessment in Higher Education. Second, we explain the organization and operation of the Network of Formative Assessment in Higher Education: purpose, basic methodology of work, different actions and framework: innovation projects and educational research, seminars, action-research, dissemination of results, annual conferences and thematic work-groups. We also present the main results, organized into four sections: a-advantages; b-cons, problems and possible solutions; c-influence on academic performance; d-load of work required by teachers and pupils. In the third and final section of the paper we explain the fundamental aspects of Competency Assessment in Higher Education, the changes required and the importance of coherence among curriculum elements, in this sense, we provide a practical application that we hope will be helpful in achieving higher level of coherence in our curriculum subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is focused on the selfassessment trough e-rubrics. Rubrics as an instrument of self-assessment involve a process of reflection that can contribute to increase the involvement and awareness of their own achievements. Here we wanted to engage students from the design and creation of rubric through a collaborative process of building an e-rubric by the students and the teacher. In this study, undergraduate students of Pedagogy participated in an elective subject in their third year. It was developed in several stages in a semester: training for using e-rubrics, designing and construction of e-rubrics, using the e-rubric as a tool for self-assessment and filling a final questionnaire to collect their views. It's important to consider that when we work with innovative strategies of assessment, students have to know not only the features of the instrument but also they have to know the influence to improve their learning processes and they have to achieve the ability to incorporate it to their own skills as education professionals. As main result, students highlighted the importance of rubrics to guide their learning processes and to reflect about it and the capacity of rubric to predict their performance in the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the effect of massive access to higher education on teaching at a public Argentine Law School. It describes the general background of the phenomenon and outlines the main consequences of teaching Law in overcrowded classrooms. Then, it defines the underlying epistemology, the theories of learning and the predominant educational approach applied by law school professors. Next, it observes how expanded access to Law School defies the educational goals of the institution. It concludes by offering an alternative educational proposal to still achieve the objectives in overcrowded classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systematic training for in-service teachers whose main occupation is not teaching presents challenges. This paper describes a teaching training program at a university of health sciences that deals with them. Around 40 professionals who teach in undergraduate and graduate courses of the Instituto Universitario del Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires take part annually in this program. In order to explain how this program faces those challenges, we perform a pedagogicaldidactic characterization of some of its "training devices". This analysis is part of didactical design research undertaken by the authors and teachers responsible for this proposal and includes both systematic record of experience in the classroom, participants written work and their personal reflections. As a result we find that these devices can be grouped into three types: to mobilize the reflection on their own conceptions, to produce alternative courses of actions and to play the whole game of teaching. From the voice of the participants, these devices, complementary and throughout the two years of the program, problematize practices uncritically reproduce, modify conceptions and improve the practice of teaching. Thus, this analysis provides conceptualizations and training proposals that could support not only the activity of those who are responsible for designing and conducting such projects, but also to the production of knowledge in the field of teacher training in university teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzing how university teachers' academic calling is changing entails understanding the changing motivational pressures they are subject to. Over the course of the last ten years, the use of federal Economic Stimulus Programs (PEEs) in Mexican public universities has been a factor that needs to be analyzed both for its successes and also in terms of some undesirable effects it has had. Many have suggested that the change in the objective well-being of academics that is caused by these PEEs does not necessarily result in an improvement in their performance as researchers or teachers. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to provide information on the actual situation, which is more tenuous when making a distinction among: the gap between what academics believe regarding the notion of quality, the value provided by the PEEs to their teaching duties, professors' multifunctional profile, or other academic functions such as research. Based on an abbreviated method designed to observe the viewpoint imposed on the faculty, which consists of the design of a questionnaire and an initial interpretation of its results, we will show how the statistical data were obtained. These data will be also useful for a subsequent qualitative interpretation. The idea is to encourage the confluence of ideas that derive from this method and that different researchers would want to delve into. In this case the data are combined with information that explains some of the effects inferred from them that are related to teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a software tool designed to enhance the tutoring assistance in the context of the European Higher Education Area as a way to improve the service offered to students in their learning process. This tool, named Tutorial Action, allows to the students the online booking of face-to-face tutoring with their teachers, and allows to these teachers the management of tutoring schedules and registration of the issues addressed in each tutoring session. The research conducted in this work has aimed to determine the usefulness of the developed tool for the student attendance at tutoring. The sample analysed corresponds to grade students in Software Engineering Degree from the Technical University of Madrid. The instruments used in the research have included a questionnaire to know the opinion of the students who have composed the sample. The obtained results indicate a greater attendance at tutoring sessions in the students under study, and a positive perception of the designed tool used and the influence that these kinds of tools can have on the academic performance. These results suggest that the use of tools designed to facilitate student attendance at tutoring can contribute significantly to the student performance in their learning processes and the improvement of the service offered by the University. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper defines four modes of tutorials created ad hoc in order to develop a specific experience of Learning Project (APP), in the Bachelor of Advertising and Public Relations from the University of Girona. The project has been based on the development of a comprehensive communication campaign from an actual concrete custom client, in this case, the Dean of the Faculty of Tourism. The students have taken on the role of media agencies, teachers have taken the role of campaign managers, and they have corrected their work in the different areas of their campaigns: campaign advice, online communication, audiovisual creation, adverting. Finally, the client role was made by the Dean by acting as a real customer giving students a real and concrete order. The development of the project was made from a systematic and ongoing mentoring that has allowed a combinatorial tutorial, flexible enough to meet the challenge posed to students. Communication campaigns were submitted to a heterogeneous, with the presence of teachers, students and clients. The 4 types of tutorials presented in this new model of university teaching are: specific tutorials weekly, cross tutorial weekly, tutoring and mentoring rehearsal and evaluation tutorial. The result is a rigorous experience that simulates professional work globally serving specific interests and knowledge. We conclude the optimal implementation of this quadruple model of active tutoring in an APP experience. The mock pilot was conducted in 2011/2012 and the final execution took place this year 2012/2013. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the design, construction and validation of a questionnaire to assess the academic performance of university teachers from the perspective of students. The process includes the list of specifications that make operational the construct; it has served as a reference for both the construction of the claims of the scale and the expert assessment of the consistency between the questions and the specifications (content validity). The Questionnaire was applied to a random sample of students (440) from a private institution in the metropolitan area of Mexico. We have determined the internal consistency and reliability by halves partition; also has been performed both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to determine the appropriate measurement of the construct to be evaluated. The results have shown a reliability of 0.965 (Cronbach's alpha); he degree of agreement (Cohen's kappa), was found as greater than 0.7 and, finally, the confirmatory factor analysis points out to two factors between the three possible. They are results that do not depart drastically from the theory that has served as the basis for our work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a general overview of the literature about faculty evaluation. The review process begins from the main challenges that have been found in different publications, research reports and literature, where faculty evaluation has been addressed by its conceptions, purposes, approaches and instruments. Through this lens four aspects has been considered: the complexity of the teacher activity, the lack of agreement towards what to be a good teacher at university is, to limit the teacher's responsibility only to student learning, and the growth of the criteria for teaching evaluation. These criteria could be materialized in some perspectives about "good teaching". The review offers a clear idea of the state of the art regarding faculty evaluation research. It gives elements of analysis for the development of research in the future. The paper concludes by describing a comprehensive, open and flexible approach to teaching evaluation. In addition, we describe some foundations for the development of this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we aim to address some issues of equity in higher education, from the particular perspective of Latin American reality. Our interest is highlight the fact of the theoretical and methodological positions through which equity policies are defined in the field of higher education and how social meanings and ways are established around them. In the first part, a brief description of the scenarios of higher education in Latin America is done, both in regard to the socio-political structural processes and the dynamics of higher education systems. In the second part, a conceptual reconstruction is approached to allow us to show the movements operating in university policies in recent decades which have resulted in the implementation of the so called policies of equity. In the third part of the paper, different levels of specification of the concept of equity in university dynamics are analyzed, which account for their productive potential practices. Finally, we describe some of the most important initiatives displayed in recent years by some countries of the region framed in equity policies, focusing on their effects and scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current competency-based educational models emphasize student's self-regulatory processes, through this seek to develop skills for learning throughout life and thus contribute to the continuous improvement of professional performance. Rubrics are tools for training and evaluation, which gradually promotes self-regulating process, while progressively reduces the external support. This paper poses a methodological strategy to promote the students self-regulation by the use of rubrics. Three key elements that support the learning process are discussed: reflexive practice, collaborative learning and feedback provided by peers and teachers. The design and use of rubrics in higher education demand: curriculum alignment, coordination with other subjects in the same educational section, collegial work and critical reflection about formative practices. It also pose that designed learning environments must travel from areas of greater control and certainty to areas of greater complexity and uncertainty, leading students to nearby situations to professional performance in real settings. It concludes with a series of reflections on the generation of a culture of professional education that promotes greater autonomy and responsibility of students' whit their own learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes and analyses the application of new educational practices in the Preschool Teacher Degree at the University of Alicante. We live in a society in which knowing how to use information and communication technologies is an essential part of a teacher's life. The main objective of this research was to explore and analyze the effectiveness of social networks and virtual networks in developing collaborative learning in the classroom. A mixed methods approach (quantitative and qualitative) was followed, using a questionnaire filled out by 63 students. Data was analyzed using the SPSS.19 and the AQUAD Six programmes. The results show clear student satisfaction regarding both the methodology and the collaborative work: both are understood as ideal in terms of project realization. However, the conclusions of this study show that: 1) we are still along way from considering communication technologies as a natural component in teaching/learning activities; 2) their integration within a virtual institutional environment is not a simple matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper arises from the collaboration agreement between the General Secretariat of Universities (Ministry of Education) and the Pablo de Olavide University in Seville. It aims to discover opinions about the consistency between High School guidance, the welcome and assistance during University open days, and the ideal figure to provide students with diverse information. The project advocates the consolidation of tutorial action plans existing for pre-admission and First Grade students to university. We conclude that there is evidence of considerable student satisfaction regarding educational guidance received during the Upper Secondary Education and the positive assessment of university open days. However, guidance as to career choice is not as well regarded and University teaching staff is perceived as being best situated to offer quality information about academic and career opportunities. These considerations lead us to contemplate the need to continue and improve the inter-level coordination process and support this relationship in a pedagogical model of tutorial action. This model should be reflected in the implementation of a Tutorial Action System for each degree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the presence of vulnerable groups (disabled people and members of indigenous communities) at universities has achieved greater visibility and attention from government agencies, public policy and educational institutions. This paper is a thoughtful analysis of the relationship between diversity and socio-educational inclusion at the university spaces as well as the distance between normative discourses and real practices, addressing the devices that universities use to guide, accompany and support the academic and personal processes carried out by students. Contributions from two doctoral research on the subject in argentine public universities will be recalled. These studies integrate quantitative and qualitative methodology, with a strong predominance on the second. For the purposes of the study, semi- structural interview was designed to relieve some basic variables and significant axes. Also, the researchers use key informant interviews, in order to regain institutional and organizational aspects that could enrich the approach. From the results of these research in regard with the real practices, it would be important, once this findings had been acquired, to be socialized in order to include the study and treatment of diversity at the university agenda, promoting the design and implementation of policies, programs, and affirmative actions (tutoring, orientational and supporting systems) that may bring on more democratic, inclusive and intercultural spaces, and that the process of entry, persistence and graduation of students in vulnerable situation become stronger and more significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The School of Medicine of The University Walter Sisulu trains competent doctors to serve South Africa's rural communities with a view to improving the health conditions in historically impoverished areas. The admissions policy caters for students from schools where teaching materials are scarce, which is a challenge for both, students and tutors. In this paper we share experiences tutoring basic sciences medical students as well as explore the skills that these students value more in their tutors. Small tutorial groups are cooperative learning units where an educational environment encouraging students to learn may be developed. The problem challenges individual knowledge because it generates the need to improve it; this cognitive dimension of the process occurs in and as a result of students' interactions, which add a powerful social dimension to this learning approach. The tutor, with her/his actions, should ensure that the enthusiasm engendered by the problem is channeled into the search for its solution, the quality of which, depends on each individual's effort and responsibility to achieve this collective goal. The students rated important the skills that they regularly assess in their tutors, their favorites being those that facilitate the development of cognitive strategies favoring the quality of learning (horizontal and vertical integration). Tutor's skills regarding the collaborative component of the tutorial process were given less importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the beginning of this century, University has been experiencing a profound transformation. In this framework, the guidance and tutoring are a major issue in Higher Education. The modern Life designing conception highlights two fundamental factors: the commitment of the person in the construction of the life-project through systematic reflection and the need for professional support in different forms and contexts: a challenge for reflection and creative response of guidance and mentoring at universities. This is why innovations in tutoring are so numerous, promoted at universities either by teachers or by governance in order to achieve the implementation of guidance and tutoring systems, based on new technologies and scientific developments that respond to identified needs. This is generating an innovative dynamics and a structural renovation at universities, achieving a better Higher Education quality. Thus, the studies included in this paper constitute a mosaic of intervention practices in University. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to design a teaching sequence that provides students with an opportunity to acquire knowledge, skills, attitudes and values needed when dealing with an aggressive patient. To design the teaching method, a strategy of active teaching, and in particular the so-called Case Method, has been chosen. The preparation of the case occurred during the 2010-11 academic year and its implementation took place in 2011-2012 during a course called "Relationship and Communication for Nursing Care". The participants were 2nd year nursing students at the Basque Country University. The results of implementation show that the MoC is a satisfactory tool for the acquisition of the proposed competences, as well as being a learning method that is very well received by students in general. On completion, 97.1% of the participants said they would repeat this methodology and 100% said that "this methodology has proven helpful or very helpful to me in comparison with the classic expositive methodology." In addition, all students have passed at least the minimum of the required learning outcome. The proposed experience should be an incentive to continue to expand the range of possibilities offered by active methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of building the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has not been without controversy and different levels of interpretation in its creation, foundation and development. The aim of this paper is to portray the situation and go beyond the theoretical study, based on official documents which have accompanied and complemented meetings of European ministers responsible for higher education. From these deep interviews, in semi-structured format, we found interesting to capture the views, expectations and perceptions of responsible and active actors in the process of building the EHEA: Guy Haug, Domenico Lenarduzzi, Marius Rubiralta, Eric Froment, Josep M. Bricall and Jorge Fernández Díaz. All of them with political and university relevance have been implicated from different institutions: European Conference of Rectors, European University Association, Department of Education of the European Commission and various Ministries of Higher Education. Their contributions have provided knowledge to contrast and offer a better understanding of EHEA display. Based on the triangulation of the contributions of the interviewees and the review of official documents and statements the study concludes that the university (together with the research - European Research Area and lifelong learning - European Lifelong Learning Area) is the fundamental hinge for society development and European seal. But it needs to adapt to changing times and to be linked to competitiveness and efficiency. It also needs to provide more and better cooperation and proximity to encourage mobility and mutual recognition. Besides, the creation of EHEA corresponds to a power struggle between the University autonomy rights, the legislative right of state governments and the European Commission's recommendations. However, all of them agree to raise a self-critical reflection as regards the diffusion of information so as to avoid possible misinterpretation or misunderstanding and enable more and better ways of participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation is a process whose results can be used to make improvements in the teaching‐learning process. From this view, evaluation is largely used within the bound which is maintained with the students, but its contributions to teachers’ learning can be wasted. Also, the information obtained from evaluation makes it possible to regulate the factors involved in teaching. To that end, we must pay attention to all the agents (teachers, students, contents, the classroom and the academic environment) and collect data in natural contexts. Evaluation does not close the circle; this is supplemented by the adjustments which are introduced into the process using the results obtained. In a sense, the adjustment phase is turned by natural evolution into the framework of conditions for the planning phase of the next stage, and so the circle begins again (Zabalza, 2009). In this paper, in the first place, we present the students’ evaluation as a process that regulates the teacher’s practice, that is, as an instrument to analyze the teaching‐learning process. Secondly, we describe the results obtained by conducting a survey. The analysis of the information collected through that instrument was carried out on the basis proposed by Grounded Theory, a qualitative methodology developed by Strauss and Corbin (1998) that can lead to a new theoretical framework based on the collection and systematic analysis of data. Furthermore, the resulting data have been linked with other quantitative data shown in another context (Daura y Amarante, 2011). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of the European Higher Education Area in Spain has involved a substantial change in the traditional practices of university education, introducing important modifications both in the teaching methodology and in the assessment criteria. This work presents the experience carried out by the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of Albacete in the subject of Cost Accounting. The paper aims to determine whether the new methodologies used in recent years and the introduction of new criteria for assessment have had a positive impact on the improvement of the students' performance and motivation in the aforementioned subject, which is taught in the third year of the degree in Business and Management Administration (ADE). In order to achieve this, we compared the grades obtained by students during the academic years 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 (in which the ECTS methodology was applied) with those obtained in the two immediately preceding academic years: 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 (where the teaching methodology involved lectures and a final exam worth 100% of the final grade). The findings evince an overall increase in the rate of students who take the exam and participate in the process of continuous assessment as a result of the new teaching methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of quality management systems in Degree and Master education programmes offers a great opportunity to face some of the most persistent problems and challenges in Spanish higher education. In this context, it is possible to think of new institutional coordination schemes to expand and deepen into the idea of a study as an evolving joint project driven by a coordinated teaching team. However, in order that these new quality management systems become powerful agents for change in teaching culture, coordination and true improvement of the students' learning experience, they need to be thought, specifically, from an internal enhancement perspective and not from the usual external quality assurance perspective or as a device for external accountability. On one hand, it implies that quality management systems should be designed as actual academic coordination and government structures, with capacity for effective intervention on the curricula and learning processes of the studies. On the other hand, the ability of these systems for empowering deep enhancing changes on learning experiences depends on are spect of the diversity and ownership of studies and individuals, on fostering the presence of the students' voice inside the coordination system, on giving support to leadership inside the teaching team responsible of the study and on designing good internal and formative assessment procedures. This paper, grounded on the experience at the Universidad de Zaragoza, proposes a synthesis of these requirements in ten principles for a quality management system in higher education programmes specifically oriented toward the enhancement of the students' learning experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An Education in Health Sciences Magister program was created in 2005 in the University of Chile, Faculty of Medicine, with the purpose of expanding the professional profile of academics and health professionals. The aim of this paper is to analyze the theses presented in this program and characterize their authors. Methods: Contents and main features of the fifty-one theses presented between 2006 and 2011 were reviewed. Results: Graduates belong to different health professions: 35.3% are physicians, 41.2% come from different faculties of the University of Chile, and the rest are from other institutions. Noteworthy is the absence or scarcity of physical therapists, nutritionists, medical technologists, occupational therapists and nurses from the University of Chile. The theses themes are: clinical teaching (23.5%), students' competencies (23.5%), teachers' competencies (13.7%), and 40% raised management, assessment, learning, ethics of teaching, values, and others. The research design is mainly constructivist (96.1%). The University of Chile graduates did research more commonly in clinical teaching and students' competences. Graduates from other universities focused mainly on students' competencies, clinical teaching, teachers' competencies and learning. Conclusions. Constructivism predominates in these program theses. They include various topics related to the teaching-learning process in health careers. Noteworthy is the scarcity of theses focusing on assessment of learning and educational management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of higher education the training and development of the teachers' quality is probably one of their biggest challenges. To address it rationally we must first determine the nature of the teacher's role within a highly complex and demanding environment such as the twenty-first century and then develop the basic program and strategy of its management. It is also a key element, determining the characteristics of the trainers who will boost these processes. In our paper we analyze the preferred spaces that make up the performance of the teachers and the nature of their relationships. From this study we derive the competencies associated with the work of the teacher and from them, we try to determine the nature of the approaches for use in teacher training college and the role that their facilitators must play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we show the most relevant results of the first year of implementation of the Educational Evaluation National Network and University Teaching. The basic methodology used was action-research on formative assessment practices in higher education, in subjects taught by teachers members of the net, with a total of 41 cases. The results present the advantages that this assessment system meant both for students and for teachers involved, including the greater involvement and motivation of students, as well as further development of students' autonomy. Some difficulties were also detected, such as excess work for the teachers or the lack of habit of students in formative assessment processes. The project we have developed has a direct effect on the university teaching practice and lead us to consider the formative evaluation as an essential element to renew our teaching practice and as a good alternative for dealing with the changes arising from the European Higher Education Area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European System of Credit Transfer (ECTS) expresses a true change in the methodology of the European Higher Education. A more advanced model in which the student changes teaching and learning based in knowledge reception, to a new education, raised on skills development in students. This system demand training teachers to teach to learn and, therefore, it requires a bigger responsibility of the students in their own education, something that does nothing but aggravate the difficulties of disabled students. In public universities, there are 7.408 disabled students, the 0.53% of total students, according to the White Paper on Disability at the University carried out based on data CERMI. As for private universities, and with the available data, the percentage of students with disabilities is 0.24%. The Universities Act requires individual attention to disabled students, but in practice as we can see there are still barriers caused mainly by poor organization and for an almost nonexistent teaching material adapted to the special needs that are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) laid the foundations for a model of competency-based training. In this sense, there are several proposals suggest working on the ability for teamworking in activities developing the content of one or several subjects. However, they aren't so common in assessment tasks. This paper contains an application of Teams-Games-Tournament (DeVries and Edwards, 1973) to carry out the assessment of a subject. Teams-Games-Tournament is an alternative to traditional assessment tests based not on individual assessment, but on the development and group collaboration to achieve common goals. The implications, advantages and disadvantages of the application of this technique are discussed in the framework of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present the results arising from a project to the preparation and testing of a multimedia material to promoting autonomous learning in the acquisition of specific competences of the Ecology practices course, in Biology studies at the Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB). The main objective lies in the gradual adaptation to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) from greater coordination among teachers and the acquisition of new resources for teaching. The results obtained in the materials experimentation can be considered significantly positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents some findings of an evaluation study conducted in five spanish universities on the design of a 'FORCOM Guides for Self-Assessment Teaching Competencies'. This device has been developed to help university teachers to cope with the teaching demands of EHEA. Data collected in a previous teaching needs? assessment were the grounds of the very first design of the guide. Sixteen senior university teachers - of any scientific area- had been demanded, firstly, implementing the Guide, and next, they had been required in order to look for their perceptions about: a) the ease and other aspects of practical management of the Guides ('format evaluation'), and b) the utility and suitability of its content to teachers? teaching needs ('content evaluation'). Data analysis points to: 1) the validity and utility of the created device, especially for helping well experienced teachers in EHEA; 2) its capability the increase the teaching technical knowledge of the teacher, and 3) some change demands related with the present format and with the content of the Guides, as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we describe the e-portfolio as a tool which makes it possible to put together an education proposal that fulfils the new universities demands in general and a teacher education for the needs imposed by information and knowledge society. In that context, we emphasize the analysis of the process of finding software allows us to pursue our goals. This is shown in the need to locate technology resources tailored to the educational needs, also transforming them into the context of the practice located. Has been selected and adapted software (Elgg) working on the need to recognize the prominence of the subject and their individuality in the organization of their own learning (Personal Learning Environment-PLE-) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents four experiences based on the use of portfolios as a way to assist students learning of both subject knowledge and generic skills. In three of them the portfolio is integrated as an element that helps students to organize their work in the subject, to reflect on their learning and to evaluate their results. The portfolio is also presented as a formative and summative assessment tool. In the last experience, the portfolio aims to provide students with the opportunity to reflect on the degree to which have developed generic skills after completing studies. In this case, students construct a wiki where reflections and samples of their best projects and exercises can be organized to demonstrate the achievement of such learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the perceptions of students from different subject areas as regards student assessment procedures in the University of Santiago de Compostela. We believe that an awareness of how the perceptions of these different groups coincide, can offer insights into the cultural manifestations present in student assessment, as well as providing valuable information on the strengths and weaknesses to consider in any attempt at improving the quality of university education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]