The Informatics Engineering Programme Adaptation to the European Higher Education Area at the Faculty of Computer Science of Valencia E. Vendrell & E. Sanchis Facultad de Informática - UPV International Conference on Engineering Education Gliwice, Poland. July, 2005.

InfEng2EHEA - ICEE 2005, Gliwice, Poland 2  Adaptation of the Spanish higher education to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA)  Considerations on the Informatics Engineering degree  Teaching innovation at the Faculty of Computer Science of the UPV  The project of adaptation to the EHEA at FIV-UPV – ECTS – Students’ Poll – Teaching innovation  Conclusions INDEX

InfEng2EHEA - ICEE 2005, Gliwice, Poland 3 ADAPTATION OF THE SPANISH HIGH EDUCATION TO THE EUROPEAN HIGHER EDUCATION AREA (EHEA) 3 main lines >  The new structure of the academic degrees,  The use of the ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) as the measure of the teaching effort of the students,  The development of new approaches of innovative teaching oriented to increase the participation of the students in the teaching/learning process.

InfEng2EHEA - ICEE 2005, Gliwice, Poland 4 CONSIDERATIONS ON THE INFORMATICS ENGINEERING DEGREE ANECA > White Paper for the Informatics Engineering degree Unique degree  240 ECTS [4 years, 60 ECTS per year]  General education on informatics with some specialities Master degree  60 to 120 ECTS [1 or 2 years]  oriented to professional specialities, research, and the PhD

InfEng2EHEA - ICEE 2005, Gliwice, Poland 5 TEACHING INNOVATION AT THE FACULTY OF COMPUTER SCIENCE OF THE UPV Active teaching > student as the actor of the teaching process Activities > new teaching parameter > the student must perform some actions starting from theoretical concepts previously achieved > specific works, partially done at home or in libraries

InfEng2EHEA - ICEE 2005, Gliwice, Poland 6 TEACHING INNOVATION AT THE FACULTY OF COMPUTER SCIENCE OF THE UPV Teaching projects >  Individual initiatives  EUROPA project  PAEEES project

InfEng2EHEA - ICEE 2005, Gliwice, Poland 7 TEACHING INNOVATION AT THE FACULTY OF COMPUTER SCIENCE OF THE UPV Individual initiatives >  Performed by lecturers in the context of isolated subjects  Sometimes involving several subjects  Including new ways to transfer knowledge to students  In most cases, there was no acknowledgement for the lecturers  Increasing work to review new teaching activities when high number of students

InfEng2EHEA - ICEE 2005, Gliwice, Poland 8 TEACHING INNOVATION AT THE FACULTY OF COMPUTER SCIENCE OF THE UPV EUROPA Project > Una Enseñanza Orientada al Aprendizaje  Institutional project promoted by UPV  Learning Oriented Teaching  Different sub-projects to change traditional teaching process  Introducing activities as a common factor in teaching methods > reorganizing teaching to introduce seminars and activities  In most cases, with no changes in the syllabi, activities couldn’t be introduced  Increasing work according the number of students

InfEng2EHEA - ICEE 2005, Gliwice, Poland 9 TEACHING INNOVATION AT THE FACULTY OF COMPUTER SCIENCE OF THE UPV PAEEES Project > Programa de Adaptación al Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior  Institutional project promoted by UPV  Adaptation to the EHEA  Substitutes the EUROPA Project  Teaching adaptation of the subjects  ECTS to measure student’s dedication  School and/or subject projects

InfEng2EHEA - ICEE 2005, Gliwice, Poland 10 THE PROJECT OF ADAPTATION TO THE EHEA AT FIV-UPV Aim > Develop actions to spread and discuss the process to adapt to the EHEA Institutional context to develop preliminary experiences to implant ECTS and new teaching and evaluation methodologies 3 main goals >  To collect information from other Schools and Faculties about teaching and ECTS related to the approach to EHEA.  To do a teaching research about methodologies and dedication for teachers and students.  To obtain a model compound of well defined criteria for adapting to EHEA the Informatics Engineering degree of the Faculty of Computer Science.

InfEng2EHEA - ICEE 2005, Gliwice, Poland 11 THE PROJECT OF ADAPTATION TO THE EHEA AT FIV-UPV Information from other Schools and Faculties >  Visiting in Spain and abroad different Schools using active teaching methodologies and ECTS as the measurement of the subjects  Information related to the syllabus organization according the Bologna Process, the use of the ECTS as a measure of teaching for the subjects, and the introduction of active teaching in the degrees  Interesting experience > subjects of projects > involving practical teaching for different related subjects

InfEng2EHEA - ICEE 2005, Gliwice, Poland 12 THE PROJECT OF ADAPTATION TO THE EHEA AT FIV-UPV Student’s dedication >  Need to compute/estimate teaching and learning dedication of the students  Necessary to use ECTS as a measure of teaching for the subjects  A poll has been taken among the students > - at the end of each semester - for all kind of subjects - asking about their dedication average for a subject

InfEng2EHEA - ICEE 2005, Gliwice, Poland 13 THE PROJECT OF ADAPTATION TO THE EHEA AT FIV-UPV Student’s dedication > preliminary results Student’s Dedication to Mandatory Subjects 18% 30% 36% 12% 4% < half half same double > double Student’s Estimated Dedication to Mandatory Subjects 1% 14% 41% 29% 15% < half half same double > double

InfEng2EHEA - ICEE 2005, Gliwice, Poland 14 THE PROJECT OF ADAPTATION TO THE EHEA AT FIV-UPV Student’s dedication > preliminary results Study Dedication >12 Hours Students Semester Dedication Last Month Dedication Last Week Dedication

InfEng2EHEA - ICEE 2005, Gliwice, Poland 15 THE PROJECT OF ADAPTATION TO THE EHEA AT FIV-UPV Spreading the Bologna Process >  Need to involve lecturers in the Bologna Process  Speeches about > - ECTS - active teaching methodologies - subject organization

InfEng2EHEA - ICEE 2005, Gliwice, Poland 16 THE PROJECT OF ADAPTATION TO THE EHEA AT FIV-UPV Teaching innovation >  Discussion about previous experiences in the Faculty of Computer Science about teaching organization, methodologies, and evaluation  In most cases, the group size was the most important factor for the success  Teaching methods based on projects for the students, seminars, and non-present work, are only bearable when the number of students is small (about 30 students per group)

InfEng2EHEA - ICEE 2005, Gliwice, Poland 17 CONCLUSIONS  Bologna Process > Need to adapt current degrees to the EHEA  Spanish initiative > white papers for all degrees  Informatics Engineering at FIV-UPV > institutional project > develop actions to spread and discuss the process to adapt to the EHEA > -Collecting information about other experiences -ECTS > poll for student’s dedication -Teaching innovation -Model for adapting to EHEA the Informatics Engineering degree