Lectures

These sessions will introduce and develop the fundamental concepts of the course. Active student participation will be encouraged through questions, guided discussions, and brief reflection activities aimed at fostering understanding of the concepts presented and identifying potential learning difficulties.

Problem-solving sessions

Problem-solving sessions will focus on the application of the concepts developed in the lectures. The objective is for students to learn how to identify the nature of a physical problem, select the most appropriate model, and apply the necessary tools to solve it. Problem sets will be made available on the virtual campus sufficiently in advance so that students can work on them beforehand and raise questions during the sessions.

Seminars

The seminars will complement the lectures and problem-solving sessions through participatory activities aimed at exploring specific course concepts and their applications in greater depth. These sessions will adopt a predominantly phenomenological approach and will be oriented toward establishing connections between theoretical models and experimental observations.

Depending on the topics covered, seminars may include experimental demonstrations, hands-on activities, analysis of optical systems, the use of basic instrumentation, and the observation of phenomena related to light propagation, image formation, and optical instruments. The objective is to strengthen the intuitive understanding of the concepts and promote active engagement in the learning process.

Observation and analysis of optical phenomena

Activities will be proposed to develop students’ observational skills and to relate optical phenomena encountered in everyday life to the concepts studied in the course. These activities may include the analysis of real images associated with the nature of light, its propagation, image formation, and the interaction between light and matter.

Fifteen minutes of a teaching session, within the schedule established by the School or the Degree Programme, will be reserved for students to complete the teaching performance and course evaluation surveys.

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 assessment of the course will be based on the following weighting:

• Written examinations (60%)
• First midterm examination (30%)
• Second midterm examination (30%)
• Activities related to optical phenomena (15%)
• Seminar assignments (25%)

Written examinations

These examinations will assess the student's knowledge of the course contents, as well as their ability to analyze, synthesize, and reason.

Midterm examinations

Two midterm examinations will be held. The material assessed will correspond to the topics covered during the respective periods and will be announced sufficiently in advance.

Each examination will account for 30% of the final grade.

To calculate the average of the two midterm examinations, and therefore pass the course through continuous assessment, students must obtain a minimum grade of 4.0 out of 10 in each examination.

Resit examination

The resit examination will consist of two parts, corresponding to the two midterm examinations. Students may resit the first midterm, the second midterm, or both.

Students who obtain a grade below 4.0 in either midterm examination must take the corresponding part of the resit examination. In order to calculate the final course grade through the weighting of the different assessment activities, a minimum grade of 4.0 must be obtained in each resit part. Otherwise, the course will be failed.

The remaining continuous assessment activities are not recoverable.

Students who have passed a midterm examination may also take the corresponding part of the resit examination in order to improve their grade. In this case, the final grade considered will be the one obtained in the resit examination.

Activities related to optical phenomena

This component will assess the student's observational skills, as well as their ability to relate the concepts studied in the course to optical phenomena occurring in nature and everyday life.

Each student must submit three original photographs, taken by themselves, of optical phenomena related to the concepts studied in the course. For each photograph, an explanation of the observed phenomenon must be provided. The three photographs must correspond to different phenomena and must be submitted through the virtual campus in PDF format.

Photographs taken in the laboratory or images downloaded from the internet will not be accepted. The photographs must correspond to real images captured by the student, and it is strictly forbidden to generate or modify them using artificial intelligence tools. In any of these cases, the grade for this activity will be 0 points.

The grade for this component will represent 15% of the final course grade.

Seminar assignments

Four seminars will be held throughout the course, each of which will have an associated individual assignment. These assignments will be directly related to the activities carried out during the seminar sessions.

The assignments will be submitted at the end of each seminar or within the deadline established by the instructor, and assessment will consider both the understanding of the concepts covered and the ability to analyze and interpret the results obtained.

The objective of this activity is to encourage active student participation, consolidate the concepts presented during the seminars, and foster connections between theoretical models and experimental observations.

The combined grade of the four assignments will represent 25% of the final course grade. Attendance at the seminars is mandatory.

Single assessment

Students who have opted for the single-assessment mode must complete a final examination consisting of a theory test, in which they will answer a series of questions related to the course syllabus. They must then complete a problem-solving test containing exercises similar to those worked on during the problem-solving sessions.

In addition, students must submit a report containing three original photographs of optical phenomena taken by themselves, together with a brief description of each observed phenomenon. The photographs must correspond to real images captured by the student, and it is strictly forbidden to generate or modify them using artificial intelligence tools. The report must not exceed three pages in length and will be complemented by an oral presentation.

These assessments will take place on the same date, at the same time, and in the same location as the course resit examinations.

The final grade will be calculated according to the following weighting:

• Theory examination: 35%
• Problem-solving examination: 40%
• Report and presentation on optical phenomena: 25%

If the final grade is lower than 5.0, the student will have another opportunity to pass the course through the resit examination, which will be held on the date established by the degree coordination. The final course grade will be the grade obtained in the resit examination.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

Any irregularity committed during an assessment activity (academic fraud, plagiarism, or misuse of AI, unless such use is expressly authorized in this course guide) that may lead to a significant alteration of the grade will result in a grade of zero for that assessment activity. When obtaining a minimum grade in that activity is an essential requirement for passing the course, or when several irregularities occur within the same course, the final course grade will be zero. Without prejudice to this, the University may initiate the corresponding disciplinary procedure.

In this course, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted only as support for information or literature searches and for the linguistic revision of texts. The use of these tools to generate, produce, or solve, either wholly or partially, activities, problems, or assessment tasks is not permitted. Whenever an authorized AI tool is used, this must be explicitly declared, specifying the tools employed and including a brief critical reflection on their contribution to the work process. Lack of transparency regarding the use of AI will be considered a breach of academic integrity and may result in grade penalties or other disciplinary measures.

Furthermore, the use of artificial intelligence tools through computers, tablets, mobile phones, smartwatches, or any other technological device is strictly prohibited during in-person assessment activities, including midterm examinations, resit examinations, practical tests, guided problem-solving activities, or any other assessable activity carried out in the classroom. Failure to comply with this rule will be considered a serious academic misconduct.