Developing the synthesis capacity through the undergraduate dissertation in higher education virtual environments: An experience with Pecha Kucha

Abstract

The linkage between the university degrees and the future professional life of the student is subject to a vivid debate, as a critical purpose of formal education is to prepare students for their development after the University. In this article, we present a pioneering experience in the end-of studies dissertation in undergraduate degrees in Education, Psychology and Economics studies in one of the largest virtual European Universities through the use of a presentation according to Pecha Kucha method. The purpose of our research is, in the first place, to present the challenge that supposes the training of competences and evaluation of the undergraduate dissertation in virtual higher education, and secondly to investigate the adequacy of the Pecha Kucha format as a tool for the development of certain soft skills, in particular to train the synthesis capacity. According with the results of this research pilot, Pecha Kucha seems to be an appropriate approach for the end-of-studies dissertation in these environments, to practice especially the synthesis capacity, together with other soft skills, in these dissertations in open universities.