A Botanic Trail as a Complementary Tool to Master Class in Physiology. A Comparison of Students’ Impression in Different Grades

Resumen

In the last years, European Universities have rearranged their study programstowards more practical contents in order to develop a broader range ofcompetences in the students. In this sense, a group of Lecturers in Physiology ofdifferent Degrees (Pharmacy, Biotechnology and Medicine) have developedmultidisciplinary activity, included in the problem based learning methodology,and supported on a tool previously established in the University Campus: theBotanic Trail. This tool consists on the identification of the plant species locatedin the Campus by means of signs with the QR codes, whose capture leads to awebsite (www.sendabotanicaue.es) containing extensive information aboutbotany, pharmacognosy and the toxicology of each species. The activity startedwhen each group of 4-5 students of the first or second year were assigned a plantfound in the Campus. Then, the students should investigate their activeingredients and explain the mechanism of action, pharmacology, medicalapplication and toxicology of at least one of these ingredients. The results of thisinvestigation should be presented in a poster format and explained to the rest ofthe class. The students’ impression about the activity was recorded before andafter its development with a questionnaire. The analysis of the data collectedshows that, initially, students of the three Degrees agreed with the inclusion ofresources, such as the Botanic Trail, as a complement to master classes.However, after carrying out the activity, a different point of view has emergeddepending on the Degree analyzed. Thus, Pharmacy-Biotechnology studentsconsider interesting the activity, and useful for complementing the theoreticalcontents of the course in Physiology. However, Medicine students do notconsider that these types of activities make a significant difference on theirtraining, although they do not appear to be against including them. Takentogether, these results indicate a different assessment of the inclusion ofcomplementary resources to the master class depending on the profile of thestudents.