- UVic-UCC focuses its training model on active methodologies that have case analysis as one of the main elements
- The student is the centre and the main actor in a learning process that values knowledge, effort, and individual and teamwork
Students who enter the University for the first time have many goals, aspirations and interests. However, there is always one goal that is common to all of them: to gain the knowledge offered by the studies they will take and, at the end of the course, obtain the corresponding degree. This can be achieved through the use of a wide range of teaching methodologies. It is the higher education institute’s responsibility to decide which is suitable in each case. At the University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC), “how” students carry out their learning process is based on a model in which active methodologies, such as the analysis of real or simulated cases or problem-based learning, is very relevant.
The ultimate goal of the UVic-UCC training model is to “guarantee the personal growth and full professionalism of graduates, with personalized learning and support throughout the training pathway,” explains M. Àngels Pinyana, Vice-Rector for Academic Planning. This model, he states, “is based on personal relationships of an educational nature, which put the entire institution at the service of learning and the student as the centre and actor of a process that values knowledge, effort, and individual and teamwork.”
«Learning from examples, whether real or simulated, so that students can see a situation, reflect on it and draw their own conclusions»
Case analysis as a mark of identity
In this scenario, in recent years active methodologies in general and case analysis in particular have been gradually gaining relevance in all university degrees. Case analysis consists of “learning from examples, whether real or simulated, so that students see a situation, reflect on it, and end up solving it and drawing their own conclusions,” says Pinyana, who considers that this teaching method has many advantages.
In the first place, “it can be applied in all areas of knowledge,” and this is done as "to a greater or lesser extent, all faculties and degrees work on case analysis.” It is simply a matter of finding the right formula for each occasion, depending on the objectives and situation in the sector. For example, in the Faculty of Medicine, “the most paradigmatic of all”, clinical case analysis is one of the central pillars of the entire learning process. Another type of case analysis is carried out in simulation processes, which are very common in degrees in the health area at the Faculty of Health Sciences at Manresa and the Faculty of Health Sciences and Welfare of the Vic Campus. “The conceptual basis is the same: to put students in a real situation so that they can analyse and solve it,” he explains.
Secondly, like the rest of the active methodologies, this “consists of putting into practice the theoretical content, in a competence-based, practical framework in which communication and decision-making skills are promoted.” In addition, this learning is carried out at the same time or before work placements, so that students are much better prepared when they start the placements. Finally, Pinyana explains, case analysis is important, but “the reflection and conclusions that are behind the whole exercise are even more important.” Above all, self-assessment is crucial and involves: "Students must ask themselves how they did a task, if they would have done the same in a real situation, and what would change if they were in the same situation again... It is the closest thing to reality that can be offered in a classroom.”
«Case analysis is important, but even more so is the reflection and conclusions behind the whole exercise and especially the self-assessment that it entails.»
Active methodology for each case
Beyond case analysis, the use of active methodologies is multidisciplinary and, therefore, there are examples in all UVic-UCC bachelor’s degrees, which are “very student-centred and promote cooperative work as the basis for learning,” explains Pinyana. Each area of knowledge, each bachelor’s degree and each specific subject collects and applies the most appropriate methodology for its objectives and characteristics.
One of these is problem-based learning (PBL), which allows students to learn through challenges that they have to resolve over a relatively long period of time. The Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering (FCTE) has made a clear commitment to this methodology, through integrated projects that are carried out in degrees in the field of engineering and biosciences. “Many of the projects involve students working over a period of time to meet a specific challenge that usually refers to real problems for which the knowledge acquired and the skills developed in various subjects must be applied in a cross-cutting way,” explains Àngels Leiva, professor and head of Teaching Innovation at the FCTE. In the bachelor’s degree in Multimedia. Applications and Video Games, for example, a complete video game is developed that integrates all the required concepts, and in the degree in Biology, proposals are made to improve the management of an agricultural farm where students also stay for several days.
«Students work to meet a specific challenge that refers to real problems for which they must use the knowledge acquired and the skills developed in various subjects in a cross-cutting way»
Simulation is another of UVic-UCC's commitments to active methodologies. At the Faculty of Business and Communication, among other activities, press conferences are simulated with the participation of politicians, business leaders or relevant people in the social or cultural field, and facilities are available associated with television sets or radio studios, which allow students to replicate the environment and dynamics of a real newsroom. At the Faculty of Health Sciences and Welfare (FCSB), simulation is common in many of the degrees. For example, in Nursing, robot mannequins with a physiological response are used in nursing, and in physiotherapy there are actors who pretend to be standard patients in simulation practices. The SECTRA digital screen is also part of day-to-day studies at this faculty, as are the activities of dissecting human bodies and working with learning and service methodology, which integrates knowledge, skills, values and serving the community in a single educational project. This allows students to learn while they provide a direct service to society, to transform and improve it.
At the Faculty of Education, Translation, Sport and Psychology (FETEP), the entire School and University project is committed to a model of active methodologies in which undergraduate students are in University classrooms with children from schools in Vic for whom they have prepared educational proposals. “These are drawn up and put into practice taking into account the classroom context and the reality of the moment,” explains the dean of the Faculty, Eduard Ramírez, who considers that the meeting of different agents is key to the entire project: university teachers, school teachers, students and children. This “generates an enriching atmosphere of knowledge construction, which is essential to advance in educational innovation and the management of the classrooms where future teachers will work.”
A benchmark in active methodologies
If all these active methodologies and others share common ground, it is the fact that “the student plays an active role and is the centre of everything that is done in the classroom,” says Pinyana, who emphasizes that “this is a system that contrasts with the more traditional methodology, in which the teacher transmits the information.” "We want UVic-UCC to be a benchmark in active methodologies, but achieving this has a reason,” says Pinyana, according to whom “the teacher must be trained, retrain and continue to train to work with these methodologies, make things happen in the classroom and use the necessary resources at all times.”
«The system is completely different to traditional methodology: the theory is no longer presented and then put into practice. Instead, both advance in parallel.»
According to the vice-chancellor, learning is shared and the ongoing training of teachers is key to the success of these methodologies in which “the system and order change completely.” “The theory is not explained first and then put into practice, but both advance in parallel: as the practical learning is done, the theoretical framework is also developed,” so that “traditional linearity is lost,” he says.
Students trained with this type of methodology become “professionals who are more capable of making decisions, learning from their own mistakes, determining whether they are doing something wrong, taking ownership of the problems they may have and finding the way to fix them.” In short, concludes Pinyana, “they are more cooperative, complete, well-rounded students,” who leave the University more aware of what the real world will be like because through the methodologies “they already have experience of the real world from within the University.”
Clinical case analysis is central to teaching medicine
The Faculty of Medicine is the most paradigmatic case of case analysis at UVic-UCC, as this is one of the central pillars of its teaching model, and a methodology that has become a hallmark of this centre. The analysis of clinical cases is the basis of study in the Medicine degree. Students achieve the learning objectives by resolving medical cases, which are always reinforced with the crucial theory.
In this bachelor’s degree,students work individually and in groups to analyse clinical cases that are very similar to the reality that is found when they complete their training and work as a doctor. They complement this activity with other diverse teaching methodologies. Every week, 6 hours are spent on group work on clinical cases, 8 hours on workshops and laboratories, 8 hours on master classes in the traditional format, 3 hours on tutoring and 6 on independent work. In addition, each subject is associated with two simulation activities.
In this pedagogical approach, throughout the degree, conventional examinations are combined with structured objective clinical evaluation (ACOE) sessions, also based on real cases. The ultimate goal is to assess the acquisition of medical knowledge and the skills and abilities essential in the practice of medicine: communication and technological skills, teamwork and collaboration, ethical training, management of complexity, etc.
Campus Manresa, a benchmark in simulation methodology
The Manresa Campus uses simulation methodology in a cross-cutting way in all its training programmes, including undergraduate courses, higher training cycles (CFGS), master’s and postgraduate degrees. The Chair of Simulation and Patient Safety, the research group in Educational Innovation, Simulation and Patient Safety (GRINDoSSeP) and the master's degree in Simulation Methodology are three elements at UManresa that, together with CISARC - Centre for Innovation in Simulation, make the campus a point of reference in this field in Spain and internationally.
In the Health Sciences, simulation is a teaching methodology designed to improve patient safety. It puts students in a very similar situation (often limit, pressure, stress, uncertainty or risk), in terms of technical requirements and personal skills, to those they will have to deal with in professional practice or in a work team. Simulation enables people to act as if it were a real situation, but without the risk. Mistakes and successes are both welcome, as the goal is to create spaces where the participant can be aware of their skills - both those that they have developed successfully and those that can lead to errors.
The preparation of each simulation session involves a complex process that begins with the design of the case and is focused on responding to a specific need in terms of capabilities and skills. Participants receive information before they participate in a simulation, so that they can prepare it properly. With this previous experience, participants face the challenge in a space and under conditions that reproduce as faithfully as possible the real professional environment where the situation normally occurs. The session is recorded and, at the end, with classmates, the teacher and a simulation facilitator, students reflect on what they have done, why and what they can do to improve. During the simulation, an effort is made to ensure the psychological safety of the student, maximum fidelity in the experience of the situation, and a suitable process of subsequent reflection in the framework of the debriefing, in which experts and students analyse the level of performance.
The students are very positive about the intensive use of this methodology in the Campus Manresa. “The simulation brings me closer to caring for the patient. It is the bridge that unites the University and the professional environment,” explains Cristian Puga, a student of the bachelor’s degree in Physiotherapy. “It is ideal to be able to do simulation before the practicum. You arrive at your workplace with a very clear idea of how things work,” says Maria Prat, a student of the bachelor’s degree in Nursing. The teaching staff ensures that the acceptance of this methodology among students has a high level of transfer, which means that it allows them to identify competencies and strategies that can be applied in the future as a professional.
