Analysis of the final dissertation in the Spanish universities

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to analyse and describe the current situation of the Final Degree Project (TFG) subject in Spanish universities, both public and private, in undergraduate studies in Early Childhood Education and Primary Education, as well as, in the double degree of said studies. Its relevance lies in the fact that, although the Final Degree Project is a unique subject, since it represents a sample of the autonomous work that students can carry out, we lack a general view of how it takes place in our universities. Through the use of a quantitative methodology of a descriptive-exploratory nature, the study analyses the following elements of a total of 199 teaching guides: number of credits, timing, assessment modality and type of required work. The results show significant differences between public and private universities regarding the number of credits allocated to the Final degree project and variability in their timing. The evaluation is specified in 76.2% of the guides analysed and the most common percentage gives 70% of the weight to the tutor and 30% to the presentation. The most frequent types of Final degree project are bibliographic reviews and empirical works compared to other options. Finally, add that the diversity of formats and data appearing in the teaching guides of Spanish universities makes it a difficult document to analyse. Such results suggest a diverse panorama in which the Final degree project changes according to the Spanish university in which the studies of Early Childhood Education, Primary Education and double degree are studied.