Final Project Workshops as a Proposal for Adapting to the European Higher Education Area

Abstract

The final project is the last academic work students have to do with the aim of applying the knowledge and skills acquired during the university degree course to consolidate the training received. Adaptation to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has meant the introduction of new teaching methodologies in all the subjects in the syllabus, including this final or integrating subject. However, incorporating this new teaching philosophy into a subject that is so different to the others in the course (no teaching syllabus, teacher participation in different areas of knowledge, etc.) is more complex and a significant challenge for any School. At the UPV's Advanced School of Construction Engineering a new system for developing the final project through workshops was started up during the 2010-2011 academic year. These workshops with a maximum of 15 students attempt to explore a given area of professional development in greater depth. In this first year of the final project 22 workshops were offered. This present article aims to show the most important characteristics of one of these workshops, the workshop on "Feasibility studies in construction" analysing the methodology used and the results. The results show that this system of working in small groups on different themes seems appropriate for producing final projects within European convergence by managing to create a positive climate that enables the incorporation of more active learning methods.