La formación del profesorado: de las competencias y los resultados de aprendizaje a las estrategias de evaluación en el practicum: análisis comparativo de cuatro universidades españolas

Abstract

The objective of this research is to analyse and compare the evaluation strategies used by four Spanish universities on the course named External Traineeship in order to observe if they correspond to the learning outcomes and competences of the Early Childhood Education Degree and the Primary Education Degree. The theoretical and conceptual framework is marked by educational and labour policies in which a European Higher Education Area at the university level and a European Vocational Qualifications Framework at work level are created, which forces universities to address the processes of learning and teaching differently. In this manner the issue of educational planning is firstly addressed, as well as the strategy to move from competence to learning outcomes in higher education. The concept “learning outcomes” leads us to conceive the activities and the assessment differently. It is in this sense that the research hereby presented analyses the syllabus of the course External Traineeship of two degrees (Degree in Early Childhood Education and Primary Education Degree) given by four Spanish universities (University of Oviedo, University of Leon, University of Valencia and University of Barcelona). The purpose of the analysis is to compare the evaluation strategies and observe their relationship with the learning outcomes of the practical courses. Finally the results of the analysis are presented, as well as proposals to improve the teaching and learning quality of future teachers of kindergarten and primary education. It is necessary that an effort is made from the university to make the learning outcomes of the students visible, how in the traineeship the knowledge acquired in the university classroom is integrated and how the training centres help in the build-up of that knowledge.