Abstract:

Introduction:
The training itinerary in Medicine Degree must include methodologies and activities that foster the acquisition of essential competences for the student (collaborative work, communication, etc.). It must also highlight the relevance of basic scientific subjects for the development of medicine and should connect the basic theoretical contents with relevant scientific and clinical topics. The present work describes the approaches that were adopted for the development of a new teaching activity within the practical block of the Biology subject. Design was oriented to various objectives: promoting active and collaborative participation, connecting theoretical and clinical aspects, training in digital skills, addressing ethical issues and promoting deep learning and motivation with the subject.

Methods:
4 seminars of 2h 30 min each were designed, with 6 groups of 22 students, to address the topics of cancer and stem cell biology. The content were organized on the University Francisco de Vitoria's Canvas platform to be attempted for both online and hybrid educational modes (both of them implanted since the COVID-19 pandemic). Within each block of seminars (Cancer, Stem Cells) essential theoretical contents, scientific advances and techniques, therapies and real patients were worked on. The approach was eminently active, including creation activities (posters and glossaries), inquiry, gamification, moderated debate, search and analysis of scientific cases-articles (in English language), collaborative team work, peer evaluation, role-playing and reflection about ethical issues. The different activities were evaluated both by teacher and students using evaluation rubrics, and tasks created in the LMS Canvas. In addition, questions on the relevant theoretical content of the seminars were included in the final exam for the subject. Finally, we developed a satisfaction questionnaire that all students completed at the end of the term.

Results:
The development of the seminars was adequate, the students showed interest towards the materials, contents and dynamics, being proactive and collaborating at all times. We had to readjust the times of some activities to make them more meaningful. The evaluation of the different activities was especially satisfactory, highlighting the skills in oral presentation, creativity and originality and distribution of tasks. The satisfaction questionnaire conveys a good perception and assessment of the seminars, in global terms. Students highlighted the difficulty of peer assessment and analysis of scientific texts in English. The score obtained in the final exam in the corresponding blocks shows a slight improvement, although not significant, with respect to the 3 previous courses.

Conclusions:
We consider that the activity carried out is relevant for the students, since integral competencies are trained, beyond the acquisition of theoretical content. Final exams' scores do not differ much from those obtained in previous years, but the evaluation of "soft" skills and other essential competencies and the reception among students is very satisfactory. Our perception as teachers is very positive, although we must work on several aspects such as the distribution of times, the difficulty of the content, etc.

Keywords:

Active learning, soft skills, cancer biology, stem cells biology, deep learning, scientific advantages, curricular integration, online teaching, hybrid teaching.