INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATICS FOR FUTURE
DOCUMENTALISTS IN THE EUROPEAN HIGHER
EDUCATION AREA
M. Gestal, D. Rivero, J. R. Rabu˜nal, J. Dorado and A. Pazos
Information and Communication Technologies Department, University of A Coru˜na, A Coru˜na, Spain
Keywords:
Applied Informatics, European Higher Education Area.
Abstract:
In recent years, there has been an expansion in the use of IT tools. However, using these tools efficiently
has been detected by the teachers as one of the main weaknesses of the students of the Humanities and Doc-
umentation Degrees at the University of A Coru˜na. Taking advantage of the introduction of the European
Higher Education Area, the need to improve these weaknesses providing the student with the basics of the
most common computer applications is considered. This article describes the ”Applied Informatics” subject
that is currently taking place at the University of A Coru˜na, as part of the Documentation and Information
Degree.
1 INTRODUCTION
One of the most recurrent complaints from the teach-
ers which give classes at the Faculty of Humanities
from the University of A Coru˜na is related to the lim-
ited knowledge that students have about the advan-
tages they can obtain from a proper use of the func-
tionalities that IT resources provide.
Even though most students have their own com-
puter, its use is mainly restricted to searching in-
formation on internet [limitedly] and using it as a
mere typewriter to create presentations for any type
of work.
Aspects as simple as making document (indexes,
references, etc.) generation, repetitive calculations
in spreadsheets, etc, automatic are systematically
wasted by the students, mostly due to their ignorance.
Under this premise, we propose taking ad-
vantage of the introduction of the new syllabus es-
tablished by the European Higher Education Area
(CRUE, 2003) a subject in which those tools that al-
low maximizing the productivity in his/her daily work
are shown, starting almost from scratch.
2 GLOBAL DESCRIPTION AND
OBJECTIVES OF THE
SUBJECT
Applied Informatics is part of the syllabus of the first
semester of the first year, both in the Documentation
and Information Degree(UDC, 2010b) and the Hu-
manities Degree (UDC, 2010a). This subject has 6
ECTS credits, divided into 4 theoretical credits and 2
practical credits.
As mentioned before, the objective of the subject
is to show the students the benefits of using different
IT tools within their reach and the way these tools
should be used.
Thus, the subject will follow a practical approach,
since the main goal is to not only know what can be
done, but also know how it can be done. The main
purposes of this subject can be summarized as fol-
lows:
Become familiar with computers, their functions,
basic operation and components.
Use the most common IT applications: office soft-
ware programs (word processors, spreadsheets,
...), internet, etc.
Have the possibility to use the main data manage-
ment IT tools.
301
Gestal M., Rivero D., R. Rabuñal J., Dorado J. and Pazos A..
INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATICS FOR FUTURE DOCUMENTALISTS IN THE EUROPEAN HIGHER EDUCATION AREA.
DOI: 10.5220/0003894503010304
In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU-2012), pages 301-304
ISBN: 978-989-8565-06-8
Copyright
c
2012 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)
Produce and reproduce documents in any media
or format for diffusion.
Have the capacity of communicating using the re-
sources offered by new technologies.
Within the competences defined in the syllabus
approved by the University of A Corua for the de-
gree, the following ones can be outlined as the most
directly related to the Applied Informatics subject:
Specific Competences
Knowledge of techniques and work methods
Innovation in presentation and diffusion of cul-
ture
Transverse Competences
Learn to learn
Solve problems effectively
Apply critical, logical and creative thinking
Work autonomously with initiative
Capacity for proposing improvements and in-
novations
Creativity and originality in thinking and prac-
tice
Nuclear Competences
Use basic information and communication
technology (ICT) tools which are necessary for
the exercise of the profession
Critically asses the available knowledge, tech-
nology and information when dealing with and
solving problems
Assess the importance of research, innovation
and technological developmentin the socioeco-
nomic and cultural progress of the society
More specifically, the subject?s competences are
the following:
Know how to manage the file system and how to
organize information in a personal computer
Know how to create complex text documents with
sections, styles, figures, tables and crossed refer-
ences
Know howto use a bibliographicalreferenceman-
ager
Know how to manage information in a spread-
sheet
Know how to create multimedia presentations
Know how to create multimedia content of differ-
ent types: images, graphics, sound, video, etc
3 TEACHING METHODOLOGY
The subject is based on three elements: theoretical
classes, guided practical classes, and practical exer-
cises. During the theoretical classes, the fundamental
concepts of the subject are introduced so as to allow
the student to study the proposed matter in depth. At
this point, the teaching staff plays an essential role,
but students are also encouraged to participate ac-
tively and this participationwill be taken into account.
Students receive the teaching material and a se-
lection of bibliographical references, enabling them
to prepare the classes in advance or to focus on a spe-
cific aspect.
The guided practical classes are dedicated partly
to the application of the exposed theoretical concepts
to a practical case. During these classes, students play
a more relevant role; the professor merely presents
the problem, makes a brief exposition about the way
it should be resolved and provides an individualized
(or generalized, if relevant) support in case of doubt.
Practical sessions take place individually (or in pairs).
The practical classes (or practical exercises) are
similar, but the teacher only presents the problem and
the students have to solve it without any kind of exter-
nal help. Later, the teacher will review these practical
exercises in order to obtain a final qualification.
4 PROGRAMME
The classes are within one semester, with two classes
each week (1.5 hours per class). The programme is
divided into 5 large sections of different nature. The
subjects are the following:
SECTION 1: Informatics Basics
Computer history
Hardware
Software
Operative Systems
Computer Networks
Internet
SECTION 2: Text Document Edition
Text styles
Content structuring
Task automation: indexes, crossed references
Reference managers
SECTION 3: Information Management in
Spreadsheets
Data
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Table 1: Weighting criteria for the evaluation of the subject.
Aspect
Criteria Instrument
Weight
Attendance and Participation
Active participation in
theoretical and practical
classes
Participation and output
tutorials
Observation and teacher’s notes
10%
Concepts
Command of theoretical
and operative notions
Final theoretical example
30%
Practical exercices
Reasoning of solution
Quality of work
Clarity of exposition
Obervation and teacher’s notes
45%
Guided Practical Classes
Ouput and elaboration of
exercices during practical
classes
Obervation and teacher’s
notes
Presentation exercises and
practical classes
15%
Graphics
Formulas
SECTION 4: Information Management in
Databases
Modelling
Queries
Forms
SECTION 5: Creation of Multimedia Content
Digital images
Computer Graphics
Sound and video
Presentations
The different sections will be explained in a class-
room in which computers are available for the stu-
dents. Thus, it is possible to alternate guided practi-
cal exercises with explanationsin relation to howeach
tool works.
5 EVALUATION
The evaluation process of this subject is continuous
and consists of several sections: assimilation of the-
oretical concepts, realization of guided practical ex-
ercises and execution of practical exercises (see Ta-
ble 1).
In order for students to pass this subject, the sum
of their qualifications in the different sections must be
at least 5, and the results of the theoretical exam and
each practical exercise must reach at least 40% of the
highest mark in order to check a minimum achieve-
ment of the subject.
The practical exercises will be retained for one
year. The students who have already passed these dur-
ing the previous year may repeat them but are not re-
quired to do so.
6 EXPERIENCE
The subject, introduced in the session 2009/2010, has
been welcomed by the students. They have learned
how to take advantage of tools they usually used.
With a reduced learning effort, they obtain much
more complete results and, what is welcomed with
great satisfaction by the students, in less time.
During this year, in which the subject has been in-
troduced,there has been greatattendance. In addition,
the results of the evaluation of the teachers have been
very positive. Thus, this shows that this subject has
had great acceptance.
Furthermore, as it shows Figure 1, ratios related
with Performance (pass credits / total enrolled cred-
its or matriculated) and Success (pass credits / real
presented credits) are higher in the proposed subject
than the mean values in the degree. In this case, we
would point the low difference between performance
and success rate for the subject. It reflects the very
low abandon rate for it, so we it could be seen as a
acceptation measure for the students.
INTRODUCTIONTOINFORMATICSFORFUTUREDOCUMENTALISTSINTHEEUROPEANHIGHER
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Figure 1: Performance and Success Rate for the first year.
7 CONCLUSIONS
As mentioned in the previous section, there has been
a great degree of acceptance by the students.
However, it will be necessary to wait until it is
checked whether students start to apply the acquired
knowledge systematically to the presented subject or
others or, on the contrary, old techniques are still
used.
REFERENCES
CRUE (2003). Conferencia de rectores de las universi-
dades espa˜nolas [crue]. declaraci´on de la conferencia
de rectores de las universidades espaolas sobre el es-
pacio europeo de educaci´on superior. madrid: Con-
sejo de coordinaci´on universitaria, 2003; ministerio
de educacin, cultura y deporte [mecd]. la integraci´on
del sistema universitario espa˜nol en el espacio eu-
ropeo de educaci´on superior. documento marco. [dec-
laration of the conference of rectors of the spanish
universities on the european higher education area.
the integration of the spanish university system in
the european higher education area. framework doc-
ument]. Madrid: Ministerio de Educacin, Cultura y
Deportes, 2003. http://www.eees.es/pdf/Documento-
Marco 10 Febrero.pdf.
UDC (2010a). University of a corua. humanities degree.
available at: http://www.udc.es/ensino/detalleestudio?
codigo=710g01v01.
UDC (2010b). University of a corua. information and docu-
mentation degree. available at: http://www.udc.es/ en-
sino/detalleestudio? codigo=710g02v01.
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