Vicente López-Chao

Analysis of Teaching Methods in Graphic Design in the Galician University System (GUS)in Spain

Abstract The convergence towards the European Higher Education Area involved a profound rethinking of the teaching process used by university teachers. This situation forced professors to rethinktheir teaching methods in an individual, professional and anthropological way, given the importance of teaching methodologies in the new higher education framework. The sample of this paperwas collected through the teaching guides of all the technical degrees containing any subjects related to Graphic Design of all the Universities in Galicia (Spain) to find out which teaching methods are used. In order to achieve this objective, a mixed methodology was carried out. The results indicate that the educational strategies have not changed, and traditional and archaiclecture is still the most widely used.

Influence of Physical Learning Environment in Student’s Behavior and Social Relations

Abstract One of the current challenges of education is to promote active learning, interaction and participation in the classroom. This challenge might find physical barriers along the way, which hinder or fully prevent it from success. Environmental psychology has been commissioned to study these relationships and behavior of individuals and how they can be influenced by the design of the physical learning environment. The analysis of the more traditional educational environments shows strong patterns of the power of teachers over students. Therefore, the aim of this work is to investigate the physical design factors that influence the learning environment in social relations and the behavior of students in order to help professionals regarding the design and management of educational spaces. Among these factors are those related to the spatial organization and the determining factors of environmental psychology.

A study of the IT Competence training in Technical Drawing in Higher Education

The professionalization of undergraduate students was one of the main objectives of the European Higher Education Area, which should have led Spanish University teaching process to a more specific training related with student real future in the labour market. This aspect is particularly important in Engineering and Architecture, and even more in the subject of Technical Drawing, in which is essential that students acquire, among others, Information Technology (IT) skills. An analysis of the teaching guides was carried out, including every single degree and masters degree at the university of Santiago -Spain- which contains any subjects related to Technical Drawing, aiming to find out which teaching methods are used and its relation with IT skill development. The results indicate that despite the fact that the objectives include the acquisition of IT skills, the 100% of the sample does not include methodologies or strategies of evaluation aimed at its acquisition.

Analysis of the relation between IT school design and the lack of teaching method based on digital competence

Built environment affect users such as educational spaces. In the last decades, people-environment research has detailed environmental, spatial and organizational factors that influence student outcome, motivation, attention and retention. This situation deals with the discomfort of students at school and their negative predisposition towards stay in educational places. For this reason, the objective of this research is to investigate IT classroom design such as a factor of attraction to learning spaces in Higher Education in order to help professionals related to educational building design and management.

ANALYSIS OF THE ACQUISITION OF DIGITAL COMPETENCE IN TECHNICAL DRAWING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The entry into the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) meant a great revolution for the Spanish universities. One of the biggest challenges was to professionalize the imposition of learning in order to integrate students into the world of work. This aspect is particularly important in the subject of Technical Drawing, where it is essential that students acquire, among others, digital competence. Teaching guides related to Technical Drawing of all the degrees belonging to all Universities in Galicia (Spain) have been analysed. The results indicate that although the objectives include the acquisition of virtual competence, 93,9 per cent of the sample does not include teaching methodologies or strategies of evaluation aimed at its acquisition

ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF CAD-3D TO DEVELOP SPATIAL CAPABILITY

Comprehension and representation of elements, either in two or three dimensions, is presented as a main issue in Technical Drawing teaching since spatial capability is no developed in previous years to Higher Education. For this reason, ICT tools have been taken into account in the teaching method to help students in the design and generation of three-dimensional objects, which will also offer them extra background for any future subject. The objective of this research is to find out whether the practice of teaching methods related with the use of 3D software will improve spatial capability of Technical Drawing students in Engineering. For this purpose, it has been developed a proposal to work spatial visualization through 3D-CAD. Results affirm that the introduction of ICT software in the teaching and learning process can improve graphic expression skills and learning to learn capacity. It has contributed to a better understanding of concepts, by acquiring the capacity of relating theory with practice through active learning, and developing a holistic vision of the subject. These findings show ICT teaching method as an satisfactory strategy to integrate contents and educational experiences.

Study of the methodologies used by the teaching staff of technical drawing for adaptation to European higher education area: Universities of Galicia (Spain)

The entry into the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) meant a great revolution for Spanish Universities. One of the biggest challenges was to professionalize the process of learning in order to prepare students for labour market needs. It should have involved a profound rethinking of the teaching process of professors. Given the importance of teaching methodologies in the new higher education framework, we have researched by analysing the official documents -the teaching guides- of all the technical degrees and master degrees of all Universities in Galicia -Spain- that contain any subject related to Technical Drawing in order to find out which teaching methods are used. The results indicate that the variety of methodological strategies used is low, and the traditional lecture teaching methodology is the most used. It shows that professors have not adapted their methodologies to the demands of EHEA; therefore, it is concluded that a profound renewal of the teaching strategies of Technical Drawing professors of the Galician Universities is necessary and urgent.