An Innovative Educational Project at the University of Granada: A New Teaching-Learning Model for Adapting the Organization of Curricula to Interactive Learning

1. Introduction

In recent years the working world demands greater abilities and practical skills, so in addition to theoretical knowledge, universities should develop in their students skills such as leadership, decision making or the ability to work in a multidisciplinary team. To achieve these extra goals, universities should include teaching-learning models that encourage the student body to analyze, discriminate, classify and synthesize the information they receive (King, 2005). In order to promote teaching-learning models that give students a more active role, developing abilities as decision making and analysis, the European Union (EU) has defined the new framework of the European Space of Higher Education (ESHE), based on the establishment of the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) and defined as a student-centred system with the required student workload geared toward achieving the objectives of a programme specified in terms of learning outcomes and competences to be acquired. The concept of credit should take into account the total workload that a student must carry out to overcome individual subjects and attain the knowledge and skills set out therein, including both the hours of attendance and the effort that the student must devote to studying and preparing for examinations: for example, tutorials, seminars, practical work and non-attendance learning (Arias, 2003; Font, 2003). The adoption of ECTS demands a new approach to teaching methods, and therefore a revision of curricula and subjects. Since the Spanish Royal Decree 1125/2003 (Generalitat de Catalunya, 2003a) establishes the European credit system and the system of qualifications in university degrees, the Spanish University System is immersed in the process of reforming the curricula of higher education for adaptation to the new educational models.