Tutorials for Enhancing Skills Development in First Year Students Taking Biological Sciences

Abstract

In order to increase engagement and to consolidate skills, a tutorial-based skills course (module) was introduced as a compulsory component of first-year in the School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen. We evaluated whether students had attained certain 'graduate attributes' during the course, comprising: transferable and generic skills and intellectual curiosity. Student feedback from course evaluation forms, student diaries and focus groups indicated that the course increased students' confidence in questioning accepted wisdom and helped students to develop generic skills. Feedback forms generally indicated a strong appreciation of interactions with tutors, and also of learning in small groups, interacting with peers within degree programmes, personalised learning, and developing generic skills. The quality of students' experience varied, probably due to differences among students themselves as well as with their tutors. Students' use of the course website indicated strategic use of materials to enhance the development of transferable/generic skills. Activity on the course website tended to be greatest among those students who went on to achieve higher overall course marks. Tutors were more cautious than students in claiming that students were more ready to question information having done the tutorial course. Intellectual curiosity among students was more apparent later in the course, suggesting that students had been learning critical thinking skills.

Aplicación de los modelos de gestión de calidad a la tutoría universitaria

“…Considerar como fin principal el desarrollo integral del estudiante, sólo así podrá cumplir con las exigencias de calidad relacionadas con el enfoque al cliente y la búsqueda de ofrecer un valor añadido, dando respuesta a las diferentes necesidades de orientación del alumnado desde antes del ingreso en la universidad, como a lo largo de los estudios y en su finalización y la transición al mundo laboral (Cousins, Barker, Dennis, Dalrymple y McPherson, 2012;Zabalza, 2013;Villena, Muñoz y Polo, 2013). • Necesidad de implicación institucional en el desarrollo de la tutoría, tanto desde el punto de vista sistémico, poniendo en juego recursos técnicos y organizativos, como desde las autoridades académicas, para que ejerzan un liderazgo comprometido con la docencia y con la tutoría.…”