In this research, were analysed the visual representations made by high school students as a result of reading a cult fairy tale and creating a project entitled “Harap-Alb’s journey seen through the eyes of children” in the 10 th grade geography lessons. The projects were carried out by 26 students, who worked in pairs. The geography teacher presented them on the Google Classroom platform the structure of the project (visual and written components), tasks (forming groups, reading fairy tales, making mind maps), instructions and requirements. The aim of this activity was to identify and illustrate ways in which certain cognitive barriers can be removed and through which dynamic and creative thinking can be acquired / encouraged.

The “Virtual Herbarium” project was carried out during the seminars of Sciences and science didactics, in the second semester of the academic year 2020-2021 (in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impossibility of field trips and the composition of classical herbariums), all the 45 students of the specialization Pedagogy of Primary and Preschool Education (IF), Năsăud extension of the Faculty of Psychology and Sciences of Education, “Babeș-Bolyai” University Cluj-Napoca, being involved. Each group of students created a virtual herbarium with plants specific to a certain world environment. The professor provided them with details, working models, the criteria on the basis of which the evaluation is made. Each group presented their herbarium in front of their classmates, in the seminar organised on the Microsoft Teams Platform. At the end of the research, a questionnaire was applied to receive feedback from students regarding this activity.

The focus on developing students' competences underlines the importance of creating learning situations that enable students improve their knowledge and skills. Assessment is a crucial stage in giving feedback on students' performance. In the context of an increasing number of studies on developing and assessing university students' competences, we present a good practice example from the Faculty of Geography of Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The topic of analysing landscapes is both challenging and rewarding for students due to the complexity of the knowledge and skills it involves. Our study on a series of students' projects (on both urban and rural landscapes) assesses these students' competence level, while proposing improvement measures. We took into account professors' requests (about editing, the quality of the theoretical background, the criteria related to the quality of explanation and argumentation, correctness of results, originality, value of the applicative part, observing the structure and contents of the project, etc.) and a series of specific criteria for landscape research. For the latter, we analysed and assessed the following for the students' projects: cartographic and photographic materials on landscapes and explanations associated to these, identified vulnerabilities and imbalances of the landscapes in the research areas, proposals for landscape reconstruction and their spatial and functional re-integration. (c) 2019 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.UK

Quality training to become a teacher is a prerequisite for a good start in the educational system. Therefore, assessing the quality of this training and improving the future teachers' both scientific and didactic competence levels is crucial. Our research started from the observation that Geography university students at the Faculty of Geography, in Babes-Bolyai University, from Cluj-Napoca, Romania, who train during the Psychological and Pedagogical module in order to become teachers, have difficulties in approaching Regional Geography topics. To identify the differences between their competence levels, we analysed the graphic organisers realised by these students at diverse specialisations by means of an assessment tool. Students elaborated the graphic organisers as homework. Each of these students had to realise a graphic organiser for another country. Their products were analysed according to a series of criteria: included information, data correctness, the criteria they used to classify or systemise information, etc. Findings showed the challenges these students had to cope with and their competence level in elaborating cluster-type GOs for Regional Geography topics during their university studies. (c) 2019 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.UK