We are currently immersed in the construction of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), a process whose convergence date is 2010. Amongst many other questions, the EHEA proposes and emphasises the significance of a teaching-learning system that focuses on the student’s work. This implies a radical change away from the main methodology currently used in the university, as well as the establishment of competency learning. In this context, the classic lecture format becomes insufficient, and other techniques and instruments have to be applied to attain meaningful learning. Amongst these we can highlight cooperative or collaborative learning. This teaching method uses the combined work of small groups of students to maximise learning, whereby the students work together to complete a task attending both to their own learning and that of their colleagues [1]. A key feature is that learning is focussed on the student to develop abilities that will be required in their future working life. On the other hand, according to the EHEA, the university curriculum must include the competencies, tasks and evaluation of the skills learned. Competency is defined by Goñi Zabala [2] as the ability to face tasks in a specific context with some guarantee of success. The generic or transferable competencies are attributes that every university graduate must possess – independent of the title of their degree. Within this framework, the present study attempts to present the process, development and results of learning experiences of three transferable competencies in four subjects studied during the first two years of the Environmental Sciences degree by means of collaborative techniques of teaching-learning. These experiences were collated during the second term of the 2007-08 academic year; although it is still too soon to make a quantitative evaluation, the proposed activities are being positively received by the students.

References:
[1] Benito A., Bonson M., Icarán E., Metodologías activas. En: Nuevas claves para la docencia universitaria en el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (A. Benito y A. Cruz coords). 1ª edición, Madrid: (Narcea, S.A. de ediciones, 2005). 141 p. ISBN: 84-277-1501-3.
[2] Goñi Zabala, J.M., El EEES, un reto para la universidad. Competencias, tareas y evaluación. Los ejes del currículo universitario. 1ª edición, Barcelona: (Octaedro/ICE-UB, 2005). 175 p. ISBN: 84-8063-766-8.