Abstract:

Case study research is an active methodology that have been used across different fields, particularly education, social sciences, business, law, and health, to address a wide range of research questions. Case studies aim to investigate and understand complex issues in real world scenarios. In this work, the case study methodology has been applied to a multidisciplinary group composed of students of the Degree in Industrial Design Engineering and Product Development and the Degree in Optics and Optometry at the University of Zaragoza, Spain. Optometrists are health care professionals whose professional activity involve examining the visual function by means of optical and optoelectronics devices and prescribe the optical solutions to improve it. Visual anomalies still require the design of new technical solutions for diagnostic and compensation so the collaboration between this two different professional disciplines is straightforward.

The objective of this work is to design different case studies for using them in different sessions with students of both Degrees. This experience allows to acquire specific knowledge and transversal skills for students. A total of 102 students have participated in the experience, being 69 of the Degree in Industrial Design Engineering and Product Development and 33 of the degree in Optics and Optometry. Two different sessions of three hours were held and groups of 5 students were formed to analyze each case. In each group there were students from both Degrees.

The methodology carried out in this study followed three stages:
1) Design the case study based on real-world situations. The greatest complexity of this stage falls on the generation of interesting cases that raise specific themes for Optometry and Design Engineering. Four different cases were designed.
2) Conduct the case study. Each group worked on their case individually. In this part, they try to answers the questions and to collect evidence on the case that they are dealing with. In each session two cases were analyzed. This part lasted two hours.
3) Develop the conclusions, recommendations and implications. This stage lasted an hour. Each group exposed the collected data that was discussed together. A case study report was written by each group.

Finally, all students conducted a survey on the experience carried out. All the sessions were supervised by two teachers (one from each degree).
The results of the survey showed that the activity was considered very interesting for the students in relation with the acquisition of their professional skills. Moreover the possibility of developing direct communication with other future professional was also very valued. For the teachers, the activity was fluid and also very interesting. The main aspects to improve in this activity were the cases and the duration of the activity. The cases need to be redesigned to achieve a better balance between the knowledge of both degrees. The duration was considered by the students as insufficient to adequately address the issue.

Keywords:

Case study, Collaborative learning, Shared learning, Active methodologies, Multidisciplinary work.