Cell biology, human health and its relationship to global warming and climate change. A scenario to develop critical thinking skills in first-time medical students
Abstract
Abstract
The classroom innovation takes place in the Cell Biology course and aims to sensibilize medical students to climate change, environmental pollution, and its impact on human health. It is based on situated cognition as a meaningful learning strategy. It addresses contents associated with cell communication, viruses, biomolecules, endocrine system, metabolism, and cell cycle. The students implement strategies in their homes to address activities related to the following topics: vector-borne diseases (VTE), health risks associated with microplastics, effects of environmental pollutants such as endocrine disruptors and/or carcinogens, and solid waste management. From this perspective, the recommended actions are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the same time, the development of critical thinking skills (CTS) in the face of these global challenges is enhanced. HPCs are evaluated through a rubric and the effects on student learning through a pre-and post-test. The results show that the students build learning communities that involve their families, peers, and teachers who are the guides of this experience. Likewise, progress was observed in the HPC, especially in the sub-skills of describing results, which increased by 97%, in categorization to 97%, conjecturing alternatives by 93%, and examining ideas by 85%. Likewise, the pre-post comparison shows progress in the concepts related to the Cell Biology course.ommunities that link their families, peers, and teachers who are guides of this experience.
References
Cabello-Marrero, D. (2021). El cambio climático a través del pensamiento científico y el pensamiento crítico. Propuesta didáctica [Trabajo fin de Máster, Universidad de La Laguna]. Recuperado el 24 de noviembre de 2021 de: https://riull.ull.es/xmlui/bitstream/handle/915/22799/EL%20CAMBIO%20CLIMATICO%20A%20TRAVES%20DEL%20PENSAMIENTO%20CIENTIFICO%20Y%20EL%20PENSAMIENTO%20CRITICO.%20PROPUESTA%20DIDACTICA.pdf?sequence=1
Choi, J.-I., & Hannafin, M. (1995). Situated cognition and learning environments: Roles, structures, and implications for design. Educational Technology Research and Development, 43(2), 53–69. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02300472
Coates, S. J., Enbiale, W., Davis, M. D. P., & Andersen, L. K. (2020). The effects of climate change on human health in Africa, a dermatologic perspective: a report from the International Society of Dermatology Climate Change Committee. International Journal of Dermatology, 59(3), 265—278. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijd.14759
Confalonieri, U., B. Menne, R. Akhtar, K.L. Ebi, M. Hauengue, R.S. Kovats, B. R. and A. W. (2007). Human health (P. J. van der L. and C. E. H. M.L. Parry, O.F. Canziani, J.P. Palutikof (ed.); Cambridge, pp. 391–431).
Ercan, O., & Tarcin, G. (2022). Overview on Endocrine disruptors in food and their effects on infant’s health. Global Pediatrics, 2, 100019. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gpeds.2022.100019
Facione, P. A. (1990). Critical Thinking : A Statement of Expert Consensus for Purposes of Educational Assessment and Instruction Executive Summary “ The Delphi Report. The California Academic Press, 423(c), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2009.07.002
Gokhale, A. A. (1995). JTE v7n1 - Collaborative Learning Enhances Critical Thinking. Journal of Technology Education, 7(1), 16–19. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.21061/jte.v7i1.a.2
Laal, M., Khattami-Kermanshahi, Z., & Laal, M. (2014). Teaching and Education; Collaborative Style. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 116, 4057–4061. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.890
Leal Filho, W., Sima, M., Sharifi, A., Luetz, J. M., Salvia, A. L., Mifsud, M., Olooto, F. M., Djekic, I., Anholon, R., Rampasso, I., Kwabena Donkor, F., Dinis, M. A. P., Klavins, M., Finnveden, G., Chari, M. M., Molthan-Hill, P., Mifsud, A., Sen, S. K., & Lokupitiya, E. (2021). Handling climate change education at universities: an overview. Environmental Sciences Europe, 33(1), 109. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-021-00552-5
Monroy-Licht, A., Collante-Padilla, A., & González-Hernandez, R. (2016). An Environmental Management Project: Situated Learning to Enhance Critical Thinking Skills in College Students. Transformative Dialogues: Teaching & Learning Journal, 8(3), 1–13.
Monroy-Licht, A., & Gutiérrez De Aguas, R. (2020). Ali-Mentes. Enhance of critical thinking skills through education for healthier eating in college students. ICERI2020 Proceedings Conference (Index in Web of Science) of 13th Annual International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation. https://doi.org/10.21125/iceri.2020.0381
Paige, J. B., & Daley, B. J. (2009). Situated Cognition: A Learning Framework to Support and Guide High-fidelity Simulation. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 5(3), e97–e103. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecns.2009.03.120
Tang, T., Vezzani, V., & Eriksson, V. (2020). Developing critical thinking, collective creativity skills and problem solving through playful design jams. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 37, 100696. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2020.100696
Wals, A. E. J., & Jickling, B. (2002). “Sustainability” in higher education: from doublethink and newspeak to critical thinking and meaningful learning. Higher Education Policy, 15(2), 121–131. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/S0952-8733(02)00003-X
Downloads
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
