Interdisciplinary and integrative learning of neuroscience in first-year Psychology students

Abstract

[EN] This work describes a novel learning experience designed by professors from four distinct first-year Psychology courses at the European University of Madrid. In general, first-year Psychology students are lacking a sense of interfield integration and unity of neuroscience. Therefore, our ultimate goal was to help students perceive continuity between neuroscience-related courses, promote interprofessionalism, and avoid compartmentalization. The specific aims were to generate transversal knowledge and integrate contents by coordinating and developing interdisciplinary learning activities. These courses share the common thread of teaching the psychological processes: sensation, perception, attention, learning and memory, as well as their biological and neurophysiological bases. This practice was designed to utilize high-impact educational methodologies based on meaningful and experiential learning approaches, in addition to active learning methods such as problem-based learning (PBL). All in all, students improved their knowledge of transversality and interprofessionalism required in learning neuroscience. Introducing these concepts in the training of first-year Psychology students may help in fostering effective strategies in the teaching of psychology.