Professional Skills Related to Creativity and Critical Capacity in Optics and Optometry: Assaying a Teaching Approach for Undergraduate Training

摘要

Higher-education quality does not have an established and closed pattern. Its value lies in the ability to control, review, critique, and continuously update training. After the university training, excellent professionals ought to be upgraded throughout their entire professional life. Creativity and critical capacity become essential for successful lifelong learning. Methodologies that foster creativity and critical capacity in the learning process and, subsequently, in the acquisition of professional skills were the keystone of a teaching-innovation project that we developed at the University of Granada (Spain). Here, we present one of the teaching approaches proposed and applied in the context of this project. The subject-matter involved, related to optics knowledge in undergraduate students, was “Optical and Optometric Instrumentation” (Bachelor's degree in Optics and Optometry). In the curriculum, the subject was described as “Design, manufacturing, quality control and adaption of optical instruments”. Quality control and adaptation, which requires a great amount of critical thinking and creativity, were tackled essentially in the laboratory sessions. The activities of our project were undertaken in the laboratory sessions, and a technique based on protocols of control and change was introduced. The procedure was aimed at prompting the students to adopt the role of the professionals and to pose questions to themselves concerning the practical content of the subject from that professional role. At the end of our activities, a series of enquiries were delivered to the students. The analysis and statistical treatment of the surveys are shown in detail in this work. Most students recognized the activities as helpful, as a notable contribution to the development of their skills, and as useful for their future as professionals. The results of the approach undertaken, which was focused on the professional skills related to creativity and critical capacity, were quite successful and pleasing also to us as teachers.