Abstract:

Background:
The pedagogical concept is based on promoting the ability of the student body to understand their surrounds, adapting the acquired knowledge, stimulating learning autonomy and reinforcing self-directed learning. In this context, the role of teachers becomes crucial in what they can contribute to the student body regarding awareness of the vector/vehicle more effective with each manages and processes the information it receives. This perception influences the thought, determines how you reach conclusions and, consequently, affects the decision-making process. The present study was conducted at the School of Nursing, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal, throughout the period of internship of one-academic semester duration, in two consecutive academic years (2020/2021 and 2021/2022). In this study we aim to have a better understanding on the pedagogic strategies according to the cyclical nature of research, in clinical environment. It was our intent through the goals and assumptions of the Action Research methodology improve learning practice in Clinical Teaching.

Methodology:
This study is characterized as qualitative and diagnostic character. Concomitantly, we also have a participant observation, taking the field research as an object of study, itself, recording the facts as they occur and trying to understand the relationships establish on the natural clinical environment. Two separate analyses were made and later combined to establish the validation of the new assessment. On the first analysis the researcher took on dual status (teacher/investigator) and has had a participant observation. The second analysis, the sample was asked to choose, randomly, a triad: mother-breast-milk-infant. Then, each student was asked to conceive and develop a theoretical discuss with oral presentation for their peers, to assess the acceptance.

Results and Conclusions:
With regard to the characterization of the sample, this consists of 190 college Portuguese students from middle-classes with the feminine gender as the majority of the group, representing 82.11% of the sample, in which the predominant age is between 20 and 22. The sample included all the individuals of the body of students of degree in Nursing attending the 3rd year of Nursing Clinical Education in the area of Obstetrics – Puerperium, in the academic years of 2020/2021 and 2021/2022. The present study showed that it was possible to validate that all the individuals studied were found to an awareness and capacity-building to achieve the desired goal. The majority of the subjects stated the use of the evaluation guides eased their internship allowing them to be more focused on the observation of specific clinical details. In this context, the tensions, frustrations (which can promote failures in the learning process) were replaced by the contribution of self-directed learning in the experience related to breastfeeding triad mother-breast-milk-infant by scrutiny, analysed and changed the behaviours and social conducts redirecting to the assertive way. The students consistently viewed the study case as a spur for the development of critical thinking referring an increased commitment to the learning of the techniques. The development of methodical thought was another outcome in the present survey since the mainstream of the students shows a reflective attitude about the (re)cognition of the specification of the clinical case in study as the ability to apply the knowledge acquired.

Keywords:

Tutoring, self-directed learning, higher education, breastfeeding programme.