Identificación y análisis de la percepción de los conceptos umbrales en ingenieria tisular en estudiantes del grado de medicina

Résumé

Objectives: The aim of this work is to study the threshold concepts’ perceptions in tissue engineering medical students in order to a better planning of their training and a better self-regulated learning. Methods: A twenty item-questionnaire, regarding three grouped sections of threshold concepts in tissue engineering, was carried out by 63 undergraduate medical students (37 women and 26 men) from the University of Granada. The different items in each section were evaluated by students using a five-level Likert scale ranging from level 1 “strongly disagree” to level 5 “strongly agree”, depending on the consideration that each Student had on the item as a threshold concept in the field of Tissue Engineering. Subsequently, a statistical analysis was performed with the Student t test comparing the values by gender (woman or men) and the differences between the different sections. Results: The most valued concepts were those of section 1 corresponding to “basic concepts in tissue engineering” with an average of 4.19 out of 5, followed by the concepts of section 2 “control of cellular quality” and 3 “biofabrication and translation to the clinic “with averages of 3.90 and 3.53 respectively. There are statistical significant differences (p<0,01) among the three sections. The most valued concept was item # 4 “ stem cells” with an average of 4.63 and the smallest item was item 9 “ bioprinters” with an average of 3.13. Only a statistically significant difference was observed between the assessment of men versus women in item # 13 “biomechanics.” Conclusions: The differences observed in this study regarding threshold concepts should be taken into account when organizing the program and training of Tissue Engineering subject in the medical curriculum.