The EUEF holds its 1st Conference on Teaching Innovation

This Thursday, 5 June, the San Juan de Dios University School of Nursing and Physiotherapy -Comillas (EUEF) held its 1st Conference on Teaching Innovation at the Paseo de la Habana Campus, a meeting whose objective was the exchange of innovative educational experiences.

The event was inaugurated by Julio de la Torre, Director of the EUEF, who emphasised that "educational innovation is based on the difficulties: those of the student and ours as teachers to connect with them". He also stressed that the school's commitment to innovation should not lose sight of the pedagogical objectives or ignore the limitations.

Together with him, Susana García, Director of Teaching Innovation Support at Comillas Pontifical University, supported this conference, in line with the university's commitment to promote continuous improvement in the teaching-learning processes.

The conference was moderated by Miguel Mendoza, coordinator of Teaching Innovation at the EUEF, who stressed the importance of assuming innovation as an evolution, not a rupture: "There is a tendency to see innovation as a threat to what we have been doing traditionally. To innovate is to do new things from within to improve the process and the results. I hope that this forum will serve to share talent among teachers and inspire each other to improve our results".

The programme included two round tables, focused on innovation in competence acquisition and the application of innovative teaching resources, in which different teachers shared best practices, strategies and reflections on how to adapt teaching to new educational contexts.

In addition, attendees were also able to participate in a workshop on artificial intelligence applied to research, where they explored new tools and their potential impact on the academic and professional environment.

Round Table I: Innovation in competence acquisition

This round table was attended by Jesús Muñoz Muñoz, lecturer in Nursing, who spoke about the project "Introduction of COIL methodology in the subject of bioethics in the Bachelor's Degree in Nursing".

With it, the teachers have developed a way of working on the intercultural competence of university students, promoting intercultural exchange and international relations and implementing Ignatian pedagogy.

On the other hand, Laura Visiers Jiménez, lecturer of the Bachelor's Degree in Nursing, presented the project "Intercultural competence of nursing students in Spain: a training project", in which six lecturers from three universities took part.

"Health professionals must have certain competencies that allow them to function adequately, both with patients and with other professionals", she stressed in her speech.

For her part, María Jiménez Jiménez, professor of the Degree in Nursing, presented the project "Design of a Virtual Reality learning programme for training in Basic and Advanced Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation through a Design Thinking process".

With this study, aimed at 1st year nursing students, the teachers who participated in it have developed new approaches to improve the acquisition of skills through immersive experiences, with the integration of Augmented Reality and Learning Based on Clinical Simulation.

Finally, the teacher Carlos Cabrera Vallejo was in charge of closing this first round table, presenting the project "EMfisioPATIZA: Expectations, experiences and realities on the elderly in Spain and Argentina".

The main aim of the project is that the students of the 1st year of Physiotherapy think about how they want to be treated in the third age, in order to address the reality of the elderly, their relationship with society, their environment and their health, and then carry out an intercultural analysis through scheduled activities.

Round Table II: Application of innovative teaching resources 

At this round table, Professor María Rodríguez Ortega presented the project "Wooclap integrated into cadaveric dissection practices for Nursing and Physiotherapy students".

The aim of this study was to improve the assimilation of anatomical knowledge through interactive resources and real cadaveric dissection using interactive audiovisual material, evaluating its impact on student learning and satisfaction.

In addition, Professor Jaime Ruiz-Tovar Polo, spoke about the project "Audiovisual and interactive presentations for teaching the subject Medical-Surgical Conditions in the Degree in Physiotherapy".

With the development of this project, the professors wanted to provide students with an audiovisual tool that allows them to improve the assimilation and knowledge of complex aspects of the subject, through videos or podcasts.

After evaluating the project, "both the videos and the podcasts are perceived by the students as useful tools for learning this subject. Therefore, the learning outcome with both tools is optimal," he said. However, they rate videos more highly than podcasts.

For her part, Blanca Egea Zerolo, lecturer in Nursing, presented the project "TFG Mission: audiovisual pills to make a Final Degree Project possible", which aims to provide students and TFG tutors of the Bachelor's Degree in Nursing and Physiotherapy with tools and training.

"The EUEF is committed to an important teaching competence profile. We have more and more support and training. In this case, we believe that this project will not only benefit the students, but also the tutors. We hope it will be a very useful tool," she said.

Finally, the lecturer of the Degree in Physiotherapy, María Simarro González, presented the project "Squeeze and Lift Your Knowledge: short videos for the integration of Urogineproctological and Obstetric Physiotherapy in social networks".

"This teaching innovation project was born with the intention of nourishing the material of the health education workshops of the Squeeze and Lift project and, also, with the aim that students can all participate in the learning of the project and the service that is given to the users of NGOs," she said.