The methodology combines brief topic-based presentations with case-, problem-, and challenge-based learning, advance preparation for sessions, cooperative work, clinical simulation, retrieval practice, and critical discussion. Activities may include formulating and testing hypotheses, differential diagnosis, error analysis, decision-making, and the progressive resolution of cases.

The Virtual Campus will be used to guide independent work through preparatory materials, guiding questions, cases, problems, recommended sources, and self-assessment activities.

Types of sessions:

Directed activities

Whole-group sessions will alternate topic-based presentations with small-group activities, analysis and discussion of emerging or controversial topics, and practical work on cases, challenges, or problems. Students will benefit more from the sessions if they follow the recommendation to prepare in advance. Twelve 2-hour sessions (24 hours). Group size: 1/1.

Seminar sessions will involve practical and applied analysis of cases related to the course content, as well as problems and challenges arising in professional practice. Assessment activity 3 will also be presented. Six 2-hour sessions (12 hours). Group size: 1/4.

Supervised activities

Scheduled tutorials with the teaching staff to review directed activities.

Independent activities

To ensure sound and in-depth learning, students are strongly advised to distribute their independent work throughout the semester, with a substantial proportion completed between sessions. Independent work—reviewing sources and problems to prepare for in-person sessions, expanding on and critically analyzing the material introduced in class, studying the course textbook and other recommended sources in greater depth, and completing between-session exercises—is essential for successfully following the course. Independent work accounts for 103.5 hours of the total expected workload for the course.

Note: 15 minutes of one class will be reserved, within the schedule established by the faculty/degree program, for students to complete the surveys evaluating teaching performance and the course.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Continuous assessment activities:

Ev1. Academic participation and ongoing work (10%)

An individual, longitudinal assessment activity spanning all 18 in-person sessions of the course, including both whole-group sessions and seminars. It assesses regular preparation for sessions and academic contributions made during application activities, case/problem/challenge solving, critical analysis of emerging topics, cooperative work, and discussion.

Mere attendance and frequency of participation are not assessed. Instead, assessment focuses on the extent to which contributions demonstrate preparation, understanding, application of knowledge, argumentation, and critical thinking.

Each documented contribution may receive:

• 0 points: a non-substantive, repetitive, exclusively logistical contribution, one unrelated to the activity, or one that the student is unable to justify or apply;
• 0.1 points: a relevant and well-founded contribution that helps the group understand or solve the case, problem, challenge, or discussion;
• 0.2 points: an especially sound, integrative, or critical contribution that substantively advances the group’s reasoning.

Scores will accumulate up to an overall maximum of 1 point, with a maximum of 0.2 points per student per session. Before being graded, contributions may be questioned, examined, or discussed with the teaching staff.

Authorship: individual.

Format and mode: oral and/or practical, in person.

Timing: throughout the course.

Feedback: formative feedback integrated into the activities, individual notification of the cumulative score, and review upon request.

Ev2. Knowledge and application test 1 (35%)

An individual test assessing the knowledge and competencies corresponding approximately to the first half of the course content. It may combine a multiple-choice section of 30–50 questions with four response options and an open-ended section involving case analysis or resolution and/or short-answer questions.

Authorship: individual.

Format and mode: written and in person.

Timing: first assessment period.

Feedback: general feedback on common difficulties and errors, and individual review upon request, with sufficient time before Ev4.

Ev3. Clinical simulation and classroom facilitation (10%)

A group activity involving the design and facilitation of a case, problem, or challenge related to a group of disorders. It includes clinical simulation or role-play, engagement of the class group in resolving it, and assessment of the learning promoted.

The following will be assessed: psychopathological rigor; appropriateness of the case or challenge; ability to apply knowledge; quality of the simulation and facilitation; responses to questions; and group coordination.

Authorship: group.

Format and mode: oral and practical, in person.

Timing: in one of the final three seminars for each group, between the first and second assessment periods.

Feedback: oral feedback and assessment using a teaching rubric, possibly supplemented by anonymous formative peer assessment.

Ev4. Final integrative test (45%)

An individual, integrative test assessing the knowledge and competencies corresponding to the entire course content. It may combine a multiple-choice section of 30–50 questions with four response options and an open-ended section involving case analysis or resolution and/or short-answer questions.

Authorship: individual.

Format and mode: written and in person.

Timing: second assessment period.

Feedback: individual review upon request before the resit examination or final closure of the grade record.

Overall grade

The final grade will be the weighted sum of the four assessment activities: Ev1, up to 1 point; Ev2, up to 3.5 points; Ev3, up to 1 point; and Ev4, up to 4.5 points.

The formula used to calculate it is: OG = (Ev1*0.10) + (Ev2*0.35) + (Ev3*0.10) + (Ev4*0.45)

Passing the course

The course will be considered passed when requirements a, b, and c are all met:

a) an overall grade of at least 5.0 out of 10 across the four assessment activities;

b) a grade of at least 4.0 out of 10 in both Ev2 and Ev4;

c) a weighted average grade of at least 5.0 out of 10 across Ev2 and Ev4. This average will be calculated by weighting Ev2 out of 3.5 points and Ev4 out of 4.5 points.

If the overall grade is 5.0 or higher but requirement b or c is not met, the maximum grade recorded on the academic transcript will be 4.5.

Synthesis test

No synthesis test is offered to students enrolled for the second or a subsequent time.

Single assessment

This course does not provide for a single-assessment option.

Not assessable

Students who have submitted evidence of learning accounting for 40% or more of the total grade may not be recorded as “not assessable.” For this purpose, Ev2, Ev3, and Ev4 will be taken into account. Because Ev1 is longitudinal and cumulative, it will not be included in determining this threshold.

Final resit examination

Students may take the resit examination if they have not met the criteria for passing the course, have previously been assessed in activities accounting for at least two-thirds of the total grade, and have obtained a minimum overall grade of 3.5 out of 10.

The resit will consist of a single individual, in-person, written theory-and-practice examination assessing the knowledge and competencies corresponding to all course content and all recoverable learning outcomes. The examination may combine multiple-choice questions, short-answer questions, and case analysis or resolution.

The grade obtained in the resit examination will fully replace the overall grade previously obtained through continuous assessment. To pass the course through the resit, students must obtain a grade of at least 5.0 out of 10 on this examination.

Students who have already passed the course may not take the resit examination to improve their final grade.

Faculty assessment guidelines

The course assessment system follows the assessment guidelines for degree programs of the Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy, available at:

https://www.uab.cat/doc/DOC_PautesAvaluacio_2026

Translation of assessment tests

Translations of in-person assessment tests will be provided when the requirements set out in Article 263 of the UAB Academic Regulations are met and the corresponding online request has been submitted through the designated e-form during week 4. Further information is available on the Faculty website.

Use of artificial intelligence technologies

The use of artificial intelligence technologies as a learning support tool is permitted in this course, provided that such use augments rather than replaces the student’s intellectual work, reasoning, decision-making, or personal contribution.

Students bear ultimate responsibility for all content, arguments, data, references, and results they use, regardless of the tools employed to obtain them. They must therefore verify accuracy, source quality, possible errors or biases, and contextual appropriateness, and retain final responsibility for selecting, modifying, and integrating the outputs.

In Ev1, prior or simultaneous use of artificial intelligence tools does not in itself make an intervention an assessable contribution. To receive credit, students must demonstrate that they understand the contribution and can justify, contextualize, critically evaluate, and apply it to the case, problem, or discussion. The teaching staff may ask questions or require students to defend the contribution before grading it.

In Ev3, artificial intelligence tools may be used to support information exploration, generate alternatives, review texts, prepare materials, or critically analyze possible responses. The group must identify the tools used, explain their purpose, and indicate how the outputs were verified, modified, and integrated.

Artificial intelligence tools may not be used during Ev2, Ev4, the resit examination, or any other individual in-person assessment in which their use has not been expressly authorized.

Sessions, teaching staff interventions, or other students’ contributions may not be recorded, transcribed, or processed using digital or artificial intelligence tools without express authorization and without respecting the image, voice, authorship, and data-protection rights of the individuals concerned.

Any undeclared, fraudulent, or otherwise noncompliant use that may affect the grade for an assessment activity will be considered academic misconduct and will result in the application of the measures established in UAB regulations and the Faculty assessment guidelines.