The UBU presented research experiences in teaching innovation at a congress in Lisbon

The UBU's Teaching Innovation Group "Blended Learning in Health Sciences" advances research in teaching innovation through the use of the mixed methods application methodology.

University of Burgos lecturers María Consuelo Sáiz Manzanares, from the Department of Health Sciences, and Celia Carrillo Pérez, from the Department of Biotechnology and Food Science, participated in the 12th Ibero-American Congress on Qualitative Research held in Lisbon (Portugal).

The UBU researchers coordinated the invited panel "Use of mixed methods and visualisation techniques in the monitoring of b-Learning experiences".

Scientific papers were presented at this congress, focusing on various fields of application of qualitative research in the fields of Health, Social Sciences, Engineering and Technology, among others, as well as a transversal and holistic vision with the approach of various themes and dimensions of research at an international level.

The panel dealt with two of the experiences of research in teaching innovation developed by the Grupo de Innovación Docente “Blended Learning en Ciencias de la Salud”.   This research was carried out during the pandemic period by COVID-19, with the aim of providing teaching tools for virtual and hybrid teaching modalities and exhaustively analysed the strengths and weaknesses and the satisfaction perceived by the students.

The research techniques employed were based on the use of mixed methods methodology (quantitative and qualitative) together with the use of data mining techniques, specifically text mining.

The first experience refers to the development of a research work in teaching innovation developed within the framework of the teaching innovation project "Creation of Virtual Laboratories in UBUVirtual to support teaching in Health Sciences, Education and Computer Engineering", selected in the "Convocatoria de Ayudas a Grupos de Innovación Docente reconocidos para la elaboración de materiales docentes para los años 2021 y 2022", where GID B-LCS obtained the first position. This project contemplates the objectives of creating virtual laboratories for teaching, their application and analysis of effectiveness and satisfaction through the application of mixed methods.

Over two academic years (2020-2021 and 2021-2022) 20 virtual laboratories were designed and developed and applied in 6 subjects (1 in the Degree in Occupational Therapy, 3 in the Degree in Nursing, 1 in the Master's Degree in Health Sciences: Research and New Challenges, and 1 in the Degree in Computer Engineering), with 531 students in total. The virtual laboratories are open access and can be consulted in the Institutional Repository of the University of Burgos Library, with 1863 downloads to date.

In addition, a student satisfaction survey on the perceived usability of the virtual laboratories was developed.  This instrument contains 13 items measured on a Likert-type scale from 1 to 5 and 4 open-ended questions that analyse elements to include, to eliminate, perceived advantages and disadvantages of use. The results indicate an overall satisfaction with the use of the virtual laboratories of M = 4.0 out of 5 with an average response rate of 73.27%. Likewise, from the study of the open questions it can be seen that 49.12% of the participating students would not introduce more information in the videos, 50% would introduce more pauses within the videos and 0.88% would increase the explanations about possible errors. 100% of the students indicated that they would not eliminate anything, and as perceived advantages they highlighted the help of the virtual laboratories in conceptual and procedural comprehension and the advantage of being able to watch the videos at any time, as well as pausing them. As disadvantages, students indicated that watching the videos was time-consuming and that it would be important to include a virtual assistant to answer questions in real time. The qualitative analysis procedure was based on the categorisation of responses, frequency analysis and the use of Sankey diagrams, for which the qualitative analysis software ATLAS.ti 23 was used. At the same time, the implementation of this teaching methodology has facilitated an improvement in the success and performance rates of students in these subjects, specifically in the Health Sciences degrees, a range of 88.8%-100% and 86.6%-100% was obtained, respectively.

For more information, please see the article:

  • Sáiz-Manzanares, M.C., Carrillo-Pérez, C., Escolar-Llamazares, M.C., Rodríguez-Arribas, S., & Serrano Gómez, D. (2022). Nursing Students’ Perceived Satisfaction with Flipped Learning Experiences: A Mixed-Methods Study. Sustainability, 14, 23, 16074

Synchronous hybrid teaching

The second experience, coordinated by Professor Carrillo Pérez, referred to a study of student satisfaction with the synchronous hybrid teaching modality implemented in the Bachelor's Degree in Nursing at the Faculty of Health Sciences of the UBU during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this teaching modality, students could follow the classes in person or from a virtual classroom (by streaming). The data for this study were collected by means of a self-administered online questionnaire at the end of the course.

Seven questions in the questionnaire assessed students' opinions on synchronous hybrid teaching (2 closed-ended and 5 open-ended questions); student satisfaction with the two learning scenarios experienced (face-to-face vs. virtual classroom) was assessed by 7 closed-ended questions measured on a 5-point Likert-type scale.

We worked with a sample of 353 students of the Bachelor's Degree in Nursing, enrolled in the subjects of Pharmacology, Research Methodology and Information Systems and Nutrition and Diet Therapy taught by professors Celia Carrillo and Diego Serrano-Gómez, during the academic years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022.

Mixed methods research techniques were used to analyse student satisfaction. The results indicated that students perceived differences between face-to-face and virtual classes and that only a minority preferred the latter. However, differences were found depending on the type of subject.

The main advantages of face-to-face classes (and consequent disadvantages of virtual classes) were highlighted by students as being the maintenance of attention and greater interaction. Technological problems associated with virtual classes were another of the most frequently highlighted disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage of face-to-face classes (and consequent advantage of virtual classes) was related to personal comfort (use of face masks and constant ventilation). The students also highlighted, in favour of virtual classes, various issues related to the organisation of their time. This work has made it possible to identify aspects for improvement in the hybrid synchronous teaching modality experimented in the UBU Bachelor's Degree in Nursing, which will be useful for assessing the possible implementation of this type of teaching in the future.

For more information, please consult the following publications by members of GID B-LCS in mixed methods research:

  • Sáiz-Manzanares, M.C., Alonso-Martínez, L., & Marticorena-Sánchez, R. (2022). A systematic review of the use of T-Pattern and T-String analysis (TPA) with THEME : an analysis using Mixed Methods and Data Mining Techniques. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 943907. 
  • Sáiz-Manzanares, M.C., Alonso-Martínez, L., Calvo-Rodríguez, A., & Martin, C. (2022). Project-Based Learning Guidelines for Health Sciences Students: An Analysis with Data Mining and Qualitative Techniques. Journal of Visualized Experiments, e63601.
  • Sáiz-Manzanares, M.C., & Escolar Llamazares, M.C. (2021). Efectividad de los Métodos Mixtos en Investigación Contextual en Salud y Educación. En C. Brandão, J. L. Carvalho & T. Alzás García (Eds.), A Prática na Investigação Qualitativa: Experiências de Grupos de Investigação (Vol. 5) (pp. 28-40).
  • Sáiz-Manzanares, M.C., Gutiérrez-González, S., Rodríguez-Sáiz, Á., Alameda-Cuenca-Romero, L., Calderón-Carpintero, V., Queiruga-Dios, M.Á. (2020). Systematic review on inclusive Education, Sustainability in Engineering: An analysis with mixed methods and data mining techniques. Sustainability, 12(6861), 1-20.
  • Sáiz-Manzanares, M.C., Queiruga-Dios, M.Á., García-Osorio, C.I., Montero, E., & Rodríguez, J. (2019). Observation of Metacognitive Skills in Natural Environments: A Longitudinal Study With Mixed Methods. Frontiers in Psychology, 10(2398), 1-13. 

Among these references, the book published by the UBU Publications Service stands out.

Future lines of research in teaching innovation

GID B-LCS is continuing its research work in teaching innovation with the project "Use of serious virtual game scenarios as a resource to improve the teaching-learning process in Health Sciences and Health Engineering degrees" selected in the Call for Grants to Teaching Innovation Groups (GIDs) for the development of Teaching Materials for the years 2023 and 2024 where GID B-LCS obtained the first place.

Última actualización: 18 de Julio de 2023