New Perspectives in Science Education

The undergraduate dissertation is a particularly demanding subject, since it requires an effort for the theme selection, information management, presentation and defense, with a personal implication and responsibility superior to the rest of the subjects of the degree. This kind of activity is viewed as the culminating learning experience of the studies program and the quality of student output is often used as an indicator of the quality of the program as a whole. For this reason, is particularly important its design, monitoring and evaluation. To this end, five professors belong Pedagogy, Psychology and Economics Faculties are implied in an innovation focused in guiding students’ final undergraduate project focused on the specific and generic competences by mean specific guidelines and checklists, competences centred, providing formative feedback, in the UNED’s virtual learning environment. As a specific innovation to check students’ oral competence, students have to develop a mini-video by Peha-Kucha format. From the 30 final degree projects ended we have analysed, as main results, it is remarkable students’ satisfaction with the systematic and rationality of the undergraduate dissertation orientation, based in detailed checklists to generate motivation and self-reflexion on the own learning progress and with teacher formative feedback, in a collaborative virtual learning environment. Now we are implied in the data collection by mean of two specifics questionnaires, one addressed to the five students groups participant in the innovation and the other to students in the same degrees they are not participated in the innovation, in order to contrast our innovation.

Keywords: End-of Studies Project, Competencies Learning, Pecha-Kucha, Virtual Learning Environments;