Perspectives of medicine, human biology, and nursing undergraduates on transversal skills learning: a mixed-methods study

Background: In health sciences practice, interpersonal skills, critical thinking, and learning-to-learn are crucial transversal skills. Effective teaching necessitates the understanding of undergraduates' views. This study explored undergraduate experiences in human biology, medicine, and nursi...

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Autores: Silva Fontana-Rosa, Nathalia, González-de Paz, Luis, Codina Rodríguez, Ana C., Pérez Riart, María, Carrió, Mar
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:10230/71616
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/71616
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-06749-z
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Assessment
Critical thinking
Higher education
Real-world outcomes
Transversal skills
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network_name_str España
repository_id_str
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Perspectives of medicine, human biology, and nursing undergraduates on transversal skills learning: a mixed-methods study
title Perspectives of medicine, human biology, and nursing undergraduates on transversal skills learning: a mixed-methods study
spellingShingle Perspectives of medicine, human biology, and nursing undergraduates on transversal skills learning: a mixed-methods study
Silva Fontana-Rosa, Nathalia
Assessment
Critical thinking
Higher education
Real-world outcomes
Transversal skills
title_short Perspectives of medicine, human biology, and nursing undergraduates on transversal skills learning: a mixed-methods study
title_full Perspectives of medicine, human biology, and nursing undergraduates on transversal skills learning: a mixed-methods study
title_fullStr Perspectives of medicine, human biology, and nursing undergraduates on transversal skills learning: a mixed-methods study
title_full_unstemmed Perspectives of medicine, human biology, and nursing undergraduates on transversal skills learning: a mixed-methods study
title_sort Perspectives of medicine, human biology, and nursing undergraduates on transversal skills learning: a mixed-methods study
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Silva Fontana-Rosa, Nathalia
González-de Paz, Luis
Codina Rodríguez, Ana C.
Pérez Riart, María
Carrió, Mar
author Silva Fontana-Rosa, Nathalia
author_facet Silva Fontana-Rosa, Nathalia
González-de Paz, Luis
Codina Rodríguez, Ana C.
Pérez Riart, María
Carrió, Mar
author_role author
author2 González-de Paz, Luis
Codina Rodríguez, Ana C.
Pérez Riart, María
Carrió, Mar
author2_role author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Assessment
Critical thinking
Higher education
Real-world outcomes
Transversal skills
topic Assessment
Critical thinking
Higher education
Real-world outcomes
Transversal skills
description Background: In health sciences practice, interpersonal skills, critical thinking, and learning-to-learn are crucial transversal skills. Effective teaching necessitates the understanding of undergraduates' views. This study explored undergraduate experiences in human biology, medicine, and nursing degrees in learning transversal skills. Methods: An exploratory sequential mixed method design with qualitative data collection and a subsequent online survey study. Three focus groups were conducted with third- and fourth-year undergraduates, and data were analyzed with thematic analysis. The online survey targeted undergraduate students from all academic years to address inconclusive details. Analysis entailed descriptive statistics, and associations differences in responses by degrees were analyzed using chi-square tests or Fisher's Exact Test. Results: Thirteen undergraduates participated in focus groups and 159 in the online survey. Three thematic areas emerged: the training received and its perceived relevance, the evaluation, and the learning methods. Undergraduates expressed that transversal skills were necessary for self-personal growth and professional development; however 50.7% reported not receiving specific training. Human biology and medicine undergraduates reported less training in critical thinking compared to nursing (29.03% and 32.7% vs. 76%, p < 0.001) and in interpersonal and relational skills (16.1% and 16.3% vs. 57%, p < 0.001). Subjectivity is an issue compared to traditional testing, with 39.6% of undergraduates reporting knowing the assessment methods of transversal skills and 56% trusting the preparation of teaching staff. >80% of undegraduate students wanted more participatory methodologies -from classroom methodology to problem-based assessments and simulation, while plenary lectures and gamification were less preferred. Conclusion: Health sciences undergraduates advocated for effectively integrating transversal skills in their programs. Nursing undergraduates showed higher satisfaction and expressed having experienced more transversal skills learning than human biology and medicine undergraduates. Undergraduates required educators to receive more support and training in adopting methodologies that facilitate transversal skill acquisition through changes in the assessment methods and substantive transformation of the program curricula.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2025
2025
2025
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10230/71616
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-06749-z
http://hdl.handle.net/10230/71616
url http://hdl.handle.net/10230/71616
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-06749-z
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv BMC Medical Education. 2025;25(1):162
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv BioMed Central
publisher.none.fl_str_mv BioMed Central
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
instname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
instname_str Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
reponame_str Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
collection Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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spelling Perspectives of medicine, human biology, and nursing undergraduates on transversal skills learning: a mixed-methods studySilva Fontana-Rosa, NathaliaGonzález-de Paz, LuisCodina Rodríguez, Ana C.Pérez Riart, MaríaCarrió, MarAssessmentCritical thinkingHigher educationReal-world outcomesTransversal skillsBackground: In health sciences practice, interpersonal skills, critical thinking, and learning-to-learn are crucial transversal skills. Effective teaching necessitates the understanding of undergraduates' views. This study explored undergraduate experiences in human biology, medicine, and nursing degrees in learning transversal skills. Methods: An exploratory sequential mixed method design with qualitative data collection and a subsequent online survey study. Three focus groups were conducted with third- and fourth-year undergraduates, and data were analyzed with thematic analysis. The online survey targeted undergraduate students from all academic years to address inconclusive details. Analysis entailed descriptive statistics, and associations differences in responses by degrees were analyzed using chi-square tests or Fisher's Exact Test. Results: Thirteen undergraduates participated in focus groups and 159 in the online survey. Three thematic areas emerged: the training received and its perceived relevance, the evaluation, and the learning methods. Undergraduates expressed that transversal skills were necessary for self-personal growth and professional development; however 50.7% reported not receiving specific training. Human biology and medicine undergraduates reported less training in critical thinking compared to nursing (29.03% and 32.7% vs. 76%, p < 0.001) and in interpersonal and relational skills (16.1% and 16.3% vs. 57%, p < 0.001). Subjectivity is an issue compared to traditional testing, with 39.6% of undergraduates reporting knowing the assessment methods of transversal skills and 56% trusting the preparation of teaching staff. >80% of undegraduate students wanted more participatory methodologies -from classroom methodology to problem-based assessments and simulation, while plenary lectures and gamification were less preferred. Conclusion: Health sciences undergraduates advocated for effectively integrating transversal skills in their programs. Nursing undergraduates showed higher satisfaction and expressed having experienced more transversal skills learning than human biology and medicine undergraduates. Undergraduates required educators to receive more support and training in adopting methodologies that facilitate transversal skill acquisition through changes in the assessment methods and substantive transformation of the program curricula.BioMed Central2025202520252025info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10230/71616http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-06749-zhttp://hdl.handle.net/10230/71616reponame:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunyainstname:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)InglésBMC Medical Education. 2025;25(1):162© The Author(s) 2025. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:recercat.cat:10230/716162026-05-29T05:05:01Z
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