Integrated curriculum in basic biomedical sciences using a digital interactive material

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. One of the pillars of the academic model of the Universidad Europea is the integrated curriculum. The integrated curriculum allows for learning in which the student integrates knowledge and competencies and interrelates concepts and areas of performance, which allows for a focus beyond the discipline or subject, and closer to the professional world. However, the literature on the integrated curriculum in higher education, especially in Health Sciences degrees is scarce (Griffin, 2019). The research that exists highlights that its implementation presents several problems, such as inconsistent educational backgrounds, scarcity of teaching materials, and inadequate curricula (Winarno, 2020). Michel Rocard's (2007) report for the European Parliament revealed a decline in young people's interest in science, largely due to the way science is taught. Our same team detected a lower valuation of Basic Sciences subjects with respect to clinical subjects, in students of Health Sciences (Serrano-Pérez, 2017). To reverse this trend, new innovative educational actions are necessary, which promote student interest and participation in Science subjects. Modern pedagogical trends promote the application of digital interactive materials that are active, innovative tools and show a high level of acceptance by students (Gentry, 2019; van Gaalen, 2021). The main objective of this quasi-experimental longitudinal study was to evaluate the effectiveness of digital interactive learning material in facilitating the acquisition of an integrated curriculum in first-year dental students at Universidad Europea of Valencia (UEV). METHODS. An educational interactive learning game was created with the Genially tool. This didactic material integrated the contents about “Cell Junctions” studied in different subjects such as Biology, Physiology and Histology. It included the classification of cell junctions, differences among anchoring junctions, molecules of adhesion and interaction leukocyte-endothelium. Besides this digital material included most common and relevant dental diseases, related with the future professional career of Dentistry students. The subjects were ca. 240 first-year undergraduate dental students enrolled in “Cellular Biology and Human genetics” and “Anatomy and Physiology of the Human body” at UEV. They were divided into two groups. The control group followed a traditional lecture-based learning method, whereas the experimental one played the interactive material after the master class. The student knowledge was evaluated through a 4-question test which was performed with Blackboard Ultra at two different time points: i) a pre-test at the beginning of the course to assess students’ previous knowledge; ii) a post-test at the end of the activity to evaluate if the activity improved the knowledge. To evaluate students’ opinion about the experience, a perception survey was completed, using Microsoft Forms. The survey consisted of three parts: i) sociodemographic data; ii) quantitative questions about the game and its effectiveness to integrate concepts between subjects; iii) qualitative questions in which students freely wrote their personal impressions about the experience. RESULTS. The digital interactive material integrating contents from different Basic Sciences subjects (Biology, Physiology and Histology) and related to the future professional life of the dentist was implemented. An improvement was observed in each of the 4 questions of the post-test compared to the pre-test in the experimental group, but not in the control group. 12% of students of the experimental group answered correctly all the 4 post-test questions compared to 1% of students of the control group. Regarding the perception survey, the 88% of the students considered that the Genially was an effective tool to help them in learning about Cell Junctions and encouraged them to think about this topic in a new way; the 93% stated that it was effective to review the topics taught in “Cell Biology” and “Anatomy and Physiology”, 79% considered that it was useful to integrate knowledge between different subjects (Biology, Physiology and Histology) and relate Basic Science concepts to their future professional life as a dentist. Most of the students found the activity entertaining (90%), rewarding (74%), fun (63%), interesting (92%), a better way to learn compared to a master class (78%). Moreover, 89% of the students would like to repeat a similar experience in other subject and 93% would recommend this activity to other students. CONCLUSION. Digital interactive material may be used as an effective tool to integrate the knowledge of different subjects, increasing student understanding of Basic Sciences concepts.