La interdisciplinariedad como estrategia facilitadora del aprendizaje en el Grado en Enfermería

Abstract

Learning styles are defined as the different ways in which a person can learn. They are the cognitive, affective, and physiological traits that serve, as relatively stable indicators, of how humans perceive interactions and respond to their learning environments. They can promote the processes of acquisition, interpretation and analysis of information, allowing the person who learns to approach, in different ways, the contents that can be assimilated, reorienting their actions towards effective mechanisms of information processing. Conceptually, learning styles are understood as personal variables that, halfway between intelligence and personality, explain the different ways of approaching, planning and responding to the demands of learning. They are relatively stable and can be improved and learned more easily when taught in the learner's predominant style. The present Thesis includes the learning styles defined by ALONSO, GALLEGO and HONEY, active, reflective, theoretical and pragmatic. The HONEY-ALONSO Questionnaire on Learning Styles (1994) was administered to a sample of 559 students to know the learning profile of nursing students from the University of Alcalá. The students belonged to the four courses of the Degree from the Alcalá and Guadalajara campuses. Teaching methods should give the best possible response to the learning styles that characterize students, so it is necessary to know which styles promote different teaching methods. To this end, a questionnaire on Learning Styles and Teaching Methods has been developed ad hoc, administered to teachers and graduates, and compared afterward. Learning styles of the nursing students at the University of Alcalá do not show any relation with sociodemographic variables such as age or sex, nor with academic variables such as the course or mode of access, and in general, present a predominantly reflective and theoretical average learning profile and, to a lesser extent, pragmatic and active learning. After the results obtained, a conclusion can be made. The combination of methods established in the academic curriculum does not give a satisfactory answer to the learning requirements of the students. However, teaching methods that promote interdisciplinarity (Integrated Tutorials, Learning Modules, Case Studies), give a better response than traditional methods to the four learning styles, and particularly the active style, which is consistent with the hypothesis of the present study.