Cross-curricular skills development in final-year dissertation by active and collaborative methodologies

ABSTRACT

European Frame for Higher Education has led universities to adapt their teaching schemes. Degrees must train students in competences including specific and cross-curricular skills. Nevertheless, there are important limitations to follow skill improvement through the consecutive academic years. Final-year dissertation (FYD) offers the opportunity to assess these aspects so linked to the professional requirements. The experience reported here offers an alternative methodology for the FYD in order to reinforce cross-curricular skills and substitute the classic final evaluation schemes. A new protocol for the FYD was defined and tested in the Degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics, with the participation of students and lecturers from different disciplines. The new methodology included collaborative activities that required students active implication and participation. New cross-curricular skills not considered before were included and evaluated in a continuous way: analysis and critical attitude, as well as team working. Obtained data revealed an improvement over cross-curricular skills. Student–student cooperation resulted in significant contributions to enhance FYD quality. The new methodology was satisfactorily valued by students. The main keys for the successful implementation of this protocol were the followings: encouragement of teachers and students, coordination, information and communication technologies, and clear guidelines.

KEYWORDS:

• Active learning
• cooperative learning
• communication skills
• interpersonal skills
• final-year dissertation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Iñaki Etaio (Ph.D.) is a lecturer at the University of the Basque Country in the Degrees of Human Nutrition and Dietetics and Food Science and Technology. He has taken part in three projects of innovation in education, mainly focused on the development of cross-curricular skills. He also works specifically on project-based learning. He has many communications in international education conferences and some other publications from these activities.

Itziar Churruca (Ph.D.) is a lecturer of the Department of Pharmacy and Food Science of the University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU. She has been involved in Innovation in Education focusing on the development of cross-curricular skills by collaborative–active methodologies in Higher Education. Her last projects aim to develop sustainability-related skills. She has presented oral and poster communications and published proceedings in international congresses.

Diego Rada (Ph.D.) is currently an associate lecturer of Nutritional Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of the Basque Country. He has undertaken applied research across a range of contexts resulting in an extensive experience of providing statistical support on qualitative and quantitative research methods. Thus, he has collaborated in two Educative Innovative Projects related to active grouping work-based teaching and learning methodologies in Higher Education.

Jonatan Miranda (Ph.D.) is a lecturer at the University of the Basque Country in the Degrees of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Food Science and Technology and Pharmacy. During the last five years, he has been publishing several international congress proceedings based on active methodologies and sustainability.

Amaia Saracibar (Ph.D.) is an associate professor of Physical Chemistry and Chemistry in the University of the Basque Country. She received her Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry with European distinction in 2007. She obtained a positive evaluation as a lecture professor in 2010. She teaches in the four Bachelor degrees that the Pharmacy Faculty offers: Enviromental Sciences, Pharmacy, Human Nutrition and Dietetics and Food Science and Technology. Her main teaching research interests are active methodologies and cross-curricular skills.

Fernando Sarrionandia (Ph.D.) is a lecturer at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) in the Enviromental Sciences degree, and also participates as coordinator of this degree. Besides the several research contributions related with the volcanic activity of the Campo de Calatrava Volcanic Region (Mainland Spain), he has been involved in school teachers’ formation of the Geosciences areas and is co-author of several contributions related with science articles.

Arrate Lasa (Ph.D.) is an associate lecturer of the Department of Food Science and Pharmacy of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). She has participated in three Projects of Innovation in Education where active methodologies in order to develop cross-curricular skills have been carried out. As a result, she has published one paper and she has presented several oral and poster communications in international congresses of education.

Edurne Simón (Ph.D.) is a lecturer of the Department of Pharmacy and Food Science of the University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU. She has been involved in projects focused on Innovation in Education in Higher Education during the last years. She has also participated in cooperative education programs and entrepreneurship programs with the goal of facilitating access to labor work of the university graduates.

Idoia Labayen (Ph.D.) is a lecturer of Nutrition and Food Sciences at the University of the Basque Country. She has published many articles and also authored or co-authored several books and book chapters. In the last seven years, she has coordinated or participated in study projects focused on the innovation in learning strategies and teaching methodologies, mainly based on active methodologies such as collaborative activities and project- or problem-based learning.

Olaia Martinez (Ph.D.) is a lecturer at the University of the Basque Country in the Degrees of Human Nutrition and Dietetics and Food Science and Technology and coordinator of the experience exposed in this manuscript. In the last seven years, she has been involved in successive institutional initiatives related to innovation in learning strategies and teaching methodologies, mainly based on active methodologies such as collaborative activities and project- or problem-based learning.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Service of educational advice (SAE/HELAZ) of the University of the Basque Country/Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU)(project code 6570 of the Call for funding of projects of educational innovation; academic years 2012–2014).