The methodology used in this subject is based on making the student work on the information available to him. The role of the teacher is to give him the information or indicate where he can get it and help him so that the learning process can be carried out effectively. To achieve this goal, the course is based on the following activities:

Theoretical lessons

The content of the theory program will be taught by the teacher in the form of lectures in the Plant Biology part and in the form of reverse lessons or lectures in the Cell Biology and Animal Biology parts. In the case of reverse lessons, students will have recordings of the contents of each class to watch at home. Integrative activities will be carried out in the classroom to work on the contents of the videos. In addition, individual questionnaires will be carried out in the Moodle classroom to be able to track the viewing of the videos by students and Kahoot MCAT-style questionnaires to work on questions in the program related to food science and technology. Problems and practical cases related to food will also be discussed in the classroom.

In the case of both lectures and reverse lessons, theoretical classes will be complemented by the viewing of animations and videos related to the topics covered. The visual aids used in class and in the recordings by the teacher will be available on the Virtual Campus. It is recommended that students bring this material to class or have it available to use as a support when taking notes.

Although it is not essential to expand the contents of the classes taught by the teacher, unless the teacher expressly requests it, it is essential that students regularly consult the books recommended in the Bibliography section in order to consolidate and clarify the contents explained in class. With these classes the student acquires the basic scientific-technical knowledge that must be complemented with the personal study of the topics explained.

Directed Work Sessions

They will consist of seminar sessions and problem sessions.

1. Seminars:

Students will work in groups. In the seminars, the scientific and technical knowledge presented in the master classes which is not previously presented, is worked on with the aim of completing their understanding and going deeper into it. Various activities will be carried out, such as analysis and discussion of videos, preparation of a glossary of scientific terms corresponding to the topics being worked on, and resolution of questions related to the topics covered using information from different sources (scientific articles, press releases, etc.).

The mission of the seminars is to promote the capacity for analysis, synthesis and problem solving, as well as critical reasoning.

2. Problem-solving sessions:

The resolution of problems and questions allows a very interesting deduction and integration exercise for the training of students. Theoretical knowledge is complemented by solving problems related to the topics covered in theory classes. The collection of problems will also be found on the Virtual Campus in * pdf format. Before the classroom problem session, students will be required to submit their exercises via Moodle Classroom. In addition, in the problem sessions, each student will have to bring and deliver the solved problems corresponding to the topics that will be worked on in that session. The teacher will ask a random student to solve each problem and explain it to the rest of the class with the help of the teacher.

The mission of the problem classes is to guide the student in terms of his level of learning, to bring him closer to the scientific method, and to help him to integrate concepts and knowledge.

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.

The single assessment system will not be applied in this subject. The assessment of this subject will be carried out continuously in the different activities that have been programmed. To pass the subject, a minimum overall score of 5 out of 10 must be achieved. The three blocks (Cell Biology, Plant Biology, and Animal Biology) contribute the same to the final grade of the subject (33.3 % for each block). The evaluation will be organized by evaluating the following sections:

Assessment of the theoretical contents:

The assessment of the theoretical contents has an overall weight of 85% of the final grade. In this part, the knowledge acquired by the student in the subject will be evaluated individually, as well as his capacity for analysis, synthesis, and critical reasoning. In the Blocks of Cell Biology and Animal Biology, this 85% of the mark will be distributed as follows: up to 20% of the mark in each block will be derived from the questionnaires that the student takes in the classroom, and at least the remaining 65% will be derived from the mark that the student obtains in the partial exam. The weight of the evaluable activities that are done in class with respect to the exam will depend on the number of face-to-face lessons that can be done. In the Plant Biology Block, 85% of the block grade will be obtained from the corresponding midterm exam (or the resit exam). Thus, there will be 3 partial exams (one for each part of the subject) that will be eliminatory from the subject when the mark obtained by the student is equal to or superior to 5 out of 10. In the second-chance exams, students will also have to achieve a minimum mark of 4,5 to average with the notes from the other blocks. Those students who, having reached the minimum score to pass the subject, want to raise their mark will also be able to take the resit exam. In this case, the grade that will prevail will be that of the last exam.

Assessments of seminars and problems: Both the work (questions/problems) that will have to be presented on the seminar days and problem classes, as well as the evaluation tests (group and individual) that will be developed throughout the seminar, will be evaluated. This assessment has an overall weight of 15% of the final grade.

Second chance examination: Students who have obtained a mark in the partials equal to or higher than 4.5, but do not reach 5 after making the weighted average between the mark of the theoretical contents and the mark of seminars will have to present to the second chance examination of the corresponding block or blocks. Students who have obtained a grade lower than 4.5 in the partials will also have to take the corresponding second-chance exams

Not assessable: A student will be considered non-assessable if he participates in assessment activities that represent less than 15% of the total mark.

Students who have inappropriate behaviors in relation to the authorship of the activities performed (plagiarism, copying, etc.) will receive a zero in the activity in question. This will affect both the student who copied and the one who was allowed to copy. In case of recidivism, the students involved will suspend the subject.

Restricted use: In this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted exclusively for study support, literature or information searches, text proofreading, and translation. If AI is used in any submitted work, students must clearly identify which parts have been generated using these technologies, specify the tools used, and include a critical reflection on how these tools have influenced both the process and the final outcome of the assignment. Failure to disclose the use of AI in this assessed activity will be considered a breach of academic integrity and may result in a partial or total reduction of the assignment grade, or more severe disciplinary sanctions in serious cases.

Any irregularity committed in an assessment activity (including academic fraud, plagiarism, or the improper use of AI, unless such use is expressly authorized in the course syllabus) that may lead to a significant alteration of the grade will result in a grade of 0 for that assessment activity. As the course syllabus establishes that obtaining a minimum grade in this assessment activity is an essential requirement for passing the course, the final grade for the course will be 0. Furthermore, disciplinary proceedings may be initiated against any student who commits any of these irregularities.