The Final Year Project (FYP) in social sciences: Establishment of its associated competences and evaluation standards

This paper presents the fundamental characteristics of the Final Year Project (FYP), its associated competences and some evaluation standards that derived from a research conducted by the regional government of Catalonia (Spain) and the Catalan University Quality Assurance Agency. More analytically, the paper begins with the definition of the Final Year Project in social sciences, continues with the identification and analysis of its associated competences and the basic phases for its realization and finishes with the presentation of some fundamental evaluation standards. Our final proposal is considered as objective and effective not only for the realization of the FYP by the students, but also for its evaluation by the instructors, since it can easily be customized for different social sciences curricula.

► We present one of the very few guides (in Europe) for the preparation and evaluation of the Final Year Project (FYP) in social sciences.
► Our proposals can be easily adapted to any social sciences curriculum and that they include all the necessary elements of the FYP for its final assessment.
► We have proved that the identified competences can be used as indicators for the quality of the students’ learning and the quality of the academic programs as a whole.