IDENTIFICATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF KEY PROFESSIONAL SKILLS OF STUDENTS OF AUDIOVISUAL COMMUNICATION

This paper reflects on the teaching experiences designed to identify and improve the professional skills of students in the degree of Audiovisual Communication at Universitat Jaume I of Castellon. Through three stages (a) the diagnosis of the initial situation and the identification of key skills in Audiovisual Communication, b) the design of strategies for improvement of professional skills and c) the evaluation and control of results), the project has identified the strengths and weaknesses of the current teaching and learning model and the existing curriculum from four different perspectives: the current syllabus, the actual results of the syllabus in the form of final-year student's media productions, the student's reflection about their own learning process and the demands of the media companies in our environment. The analysis of this information has enabled us to design measures to implement in the next academic year that will improve the professional skills of students: We have developed a teaching coordination plan based on professional competences, we have designed a map of skills and professional profiles and we have designed a pilot mentoring program aimed at volunteer students. Finally, the paper also includes the consolidation of Oculus - a University Media Contest - which can be seen as the barometer to measure improvements in the skills of students in Audiovisual Communication, because of its exhibition and competition nature. Thus, this paper includes the combined results of two Educational Innovation Projects developed during 2014/2015 at UJI.