Educational Alternatives, Volume 17, 2019

Abstract: Under the framework of a training innovation project grant in order to promote both innovation actions and improvement of students´ center learning as well as the quality of the degrees run by the University of Zaragoza during the academic year 2018-2019, some new voluntary practical activities were included in the compulsory subject of developmental disorders. This is a subject taught during the second-year of degree in Early Childhood Education. The aims of the projects were: 1) To promote active and voluntary involvement of the students organizing the First Conference on disability and developmental disorders: training and awareness; and 2) To promote the development of specific projects that delved deeper into an issue relating to the mandatory subject and its implementation in schools for students with special educational needs. A total of 140 students in their second year of early childhood education degree participated in the project. All of them attended to the First Conference on Disability and Developmental Disorders: Training and Awareness-raising, even if 25 of them were actively engaged in organizing the conference and 4 of them developed specific projects. The assessment was based on perceived usefulness of the project and students´ satisfaction level associated with normal and new complementary practices developed in this project. An initial and a final assessment questionnaire was designed using Google Forms. The results showed that students who attended to the conference expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the project. They strongly valued the opportunity to learn about real educational experiences in formal and informal education. The same results were obtained in students who actively engaged in the conference and those who developed a specific project related to the subject.