Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
---|---|---|---|
2502444 Chemistry | OT | 4 | A |
There is no prerequisite.
It is recommended, however, a certain familiarity with the computer environment since many of the activities will be done virtually through the Moodle classroom and the virtual campus, in particular, mathematical text processing programs, creation of graphics, generation of documents in PDF etc.
This subject is taught simultaneously as a first-year subject (compulsory) in the degrees of Mathematics and, Physics and as a fourth year subject (optional) in the degrees of Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, Nanoscience and Nantecnology (from the Faculty of Sciences ) and in the degrees of Biology, Microbiology and Genetics (of the Faculty of Biosciences).
The training objectives are the same, but there will be aspects of the subject (type of work, assessments ...) that may be different depending on the course (first or fourth) and the degree of the student.
Training objectives:
Expand the vision and interest of the student towards different fields of science, beyond the specialty they are studying.
Acquire an interdisciplinary vision of science.
Analyze and reflect on the relationships between science, gender, culture and society.
Provide the student with keys to the knowledge and basic understanding of frontier topics in current science, presented with an informative nature.
Acquire transversal competences.
Learn to write a scientific work that complies with formal quality standards and know how to present it in public.
Reflect on the nature of science.
The subject (which is taught jointly in various degrees) is structured around a series of 11 conferences given by renowned specialists in different subjects. The students of the degree of chemistry, that follow a reduced version of 3 ECTS of a subject of 6 ECTS, shared with other degrees, will be able to choose to attend and do the activities of the first or the second semester of the course.
The topics of the conferences are
Curie and Einstein: science and society
Evolution and genome
The ALBA synchrotron and its applications
Planets inhabitable beyond the Solar System
Blockchain and cryptomonedes
Paradoxical games
Science and gender
Ultra-fine atoms
Molecules that heal
Climate change
Genetic edition
The students of the degree of chemistry (subject of 3 ECTS) will have to follow the classes and do the assessment activities corresponding to one of the two semesters of the course (to be chosen).
Presential learning activities
Supervised learning activities
Autonomous learning activities
The student will have to consult bibliography (books, scientific journals) and conduct information searches via the Internet in order to do the tasks that will be asked in the student's portfolio and the final work. There will be a schedule for the tutorials in which the students will be able to contact the professors of the subject to solve doubts and to keep track of the preparation of the portfolio and of the final work. Attendees will also focus on ICT resources for the writing of scientific texts.
Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
---|---|---|---|
Type: Directed | |||
Conferences | 12 | 0.48 | 2, 1, 7, 8 |
Seminars | 12 | 0.48 | 6, 1, 9, 8 |
Type: Supervised | |||
Final project | 30 | 1.2 | 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10 |
Portfolio | 5 | 0.2 | 5, 4, 6, 7, 8 |
Type: Autonomous | |||
Autonomous work | 12 | 0.48 | 5, 4, 9, 7, 8 |
The students of the degree of chemistry (subject of 3 ECTS) can choose to follow the classes and do the assessment activities corresponding to one of the two semesters of the course.
Chemistry students are considered as non-attending students and will have some differentiated evaluation mechanisms.
There are three types of evaluation activities:
A) Individual short objective tests (20% of the final grade). These are tests to be completed via Moodle during some days after the conference. These tests will assess the degree of attention and understanding of the subject. Non-attendance students will have to follow the lectures via the recordings and materials of the Virtual Campus and perform a specific test about them for the Moodle classroom. Students must follow all the lectures and answer all the tests. Failure to complete more than three tests will automatically be considered as a abandonment of the course.
B) Student portfolio (35% of the final grade). The student will have to update a virtual portfolio in the Moodle classroom, where they will receive the deliveries of the exercises and compulsory activities that will be proposed during the course. There will also be a selection of materials that will keep track of their involvement in the discussion sessions of the conferences, reflecting their personal opinions and their own searches. Depending on the type of exercise proposed, cross-curricular skills such as critical thinking, autonomous learning, the ability to analyze synthetise, etc. will be valued and may be different for first and fourth year students, adapting to their levelofstudies.
C) Final project (45% of the final mark) Each student will have to participate in the preparation of a final project, compulsorily drafted in groups of between three and four students. The topic will be chosen among those that will be proposed by the teachers of the different sessions. The work must be submitted to the Moddle classroom within the marked periods and must conform to the formal and content characteristics of a scientific work, fulfilling the criteria that will be presented at the beginning of the course in a specific informational session. In the case of fourth year students, this work must be written in English, with the structure of a scientific research article and can not be done on the subjects directly related to the degree that the student is studying.
Throughout the course there will be several public sessions for the oral presentations, on dates that will be announced in the calendar of sessions. All the members of the group have to present a part of the work. The evaluation will be done by a committee of professors that will evaluate the capacity of communication, the capacity of organization, etc. A timetable will be proposed so that all students can make the presentation, which is strictly compulsory. For students abroad there is the possibility of doing their part of the presentation by videoconference. This year all the presentations may be done remotely.
The qualification of the final work will take into account both the submitted text and the presentation. The mark can not be less than 4 to be able to pass the course.
Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Final project | 0,45 | 4 | 0.16 | 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10 |
Invidual short tests | 0,2 | 0 | 0 | 6, 9, 8 |
Portfolio | 0,35 | 0 | 0 | 5, 6, 1, 7, 8 |
The bibliography of each specific subject will be given to the complementary or seminar session of the corresponding conference.
The transparencies of the conferences will be available on the Virtual campus.
About the writing of scientific articles see (for example): Cargill, Margaret and O'Connior, Patrick. Writing scientific research articles: strategy ans steps. Wiley-Blackwell, 2009