Abstract:

The Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Science at the University of Barcelona (UB) has a hybrid and active learning classroom (HALC) that allows students to work together in small groups with access to digital tools. In this regard, the teachers of the subject Physiology and Pathophysiology II in the Pharmacy degree at the UB are carrying out a teaching innovation project (2023DIG-UB/007) that consists of presenting to students a clinical case with several activities, which they are engaged to develop. The students’ activities are based on the integration, in-depth study, and application of content covered throughout the subject and in previous subjects as well. These activities aim to promote active and collaborative learning with the goal of enhancing transverse skills needed for their future as health professionals.

The first part of the project with the students takes place face-to-face for about 50 minutes in the HALC of the Faculty. Firstly, it involves the presentation of the clinical case as a video. This ‘ad hoc’ short film simulates a real clinical case. The film has been designed by the teaching team with the support of a professional scriptwriter and director, and it has been produced by the Audiovisual Production Unit of UB. Secondly, the students have to solve some activities designed for working in groups of up to 5 students which are clustered around 7 workstations available in the classroom. Finally, feedback on the activities developed in the HALC is provided in the last minutes of the class.

Since the subject of Physiology and Pathophysiology II in the degree of Pharmacy has more than 400 students and the HALC accommodates a maximum of 35 students, they are distributed in shifts of 30-35 students who attend the classroom at different times and on different days. On each day, activities related to different aspects of the clinical case are proposed.

The second part of the project is carried out autonomously and collaboratively with the same groups of students who worked together in the HALC. As a final task of their activities, each group has to create a presentation and record it with a 4 minutes explanation. This recording is sent through the UB Virtual Campus tools for assessment.

Recordings that best develop the content worked in each activity are published on the UB Virtual Campus of the subject to serve as study material for the rest of the students. The final exam of the subject includes the assessment of the learning through this activity for all the aspects worked during this period.

As the adopted approach has been designed for the active learning by a large number of students, it will provide them with a unique opportunity for practical and collaborative immersion in the field of Physiology and Pathophysiology.

Keywords:

Active learning, autonomous learning, clinical case, video.