Original article

The cases study as a didactic resource for the development of pedagogical professional skills

0000-0002-5046-0334Adriana Balboa García^{1  *}  , 0000-0002-9994-9026Raiza Miladys Parés Ojeda¹  , 0000-0001-9805-1479Sara María Berrío Sánchez¹ 

¹ Universidad de Ciego de Ávila Máximo Gómez Báez, Cuba.

ABSTRACT

The proposal presented is the partial result of a doctoral research that provides the resizing of the cases study as a didactic resource that contribute the development of professional pedagogical skills in the Speech Therapy career. It was developed with 13 professors and 10 students of this career. Methods such as analytical-synthetic, historical-logical, documentary analysis, interview and survey were used, which allowed the gradual restructuring of the way of using the cases study, based on the development of professional pedagogical skills necessary to direct comprehensive speech therapy care in the different contexts of action.

Key words: Cases Study; Pedagogical Professional Skills; Speech therapy

Introduction

The speech-language pathologist teacher directs the process of speech therapy care in different contexts, which requires the development of professional pedagogical skills that must be acquired from initial training and perfected during postgraduate training. Hence the importance given to the work of universities to ensure quality in the initial and ongoing training of these professionals.

The current design of the Speech Therapy Education curriculum contributes to the comprehensive training of students, based on the appropriation of skills that allow them to prepare for the attention to the diversity of students with communication and language disorders. The treatment to the development of professional pedagogical skills in the initial training of the speech therapist has evolved in correspondence with the interests and needs of society, according to the current conceptions of speech therapy in the Cuban educational system. From this position, the use of case studies in this science is considered appropriate from the very stage of speech therapy exploration to the modeling of the care strategy for each case.

In Higher Education, the case study is used by different professions as a method, strategy or learning resource; content; form of evaluation and as a research methodology. The contributions made from their position by the authors ^{Gómez (2009}), ^{Montiel et al. (2018}), ^{Alcócer (2019}) and ^{Ardila (2020}) demonstrate in addition to the appropriation of content and self-management of knowledge, the implication that the use of case studies has in the development of certain skills in different areas of knowledge. However, there is no evidence of its use as a didactic resource and its relationship with the pedagogical professional skills essential for conducting comprehensive speech therapy care.

In order to guarantee the effectiveness of its application in pedagogical practice, it is necessary to promote the interdisciplinary approach in the career. For this purpose, the results of the validations of the study plan and disciplines, the professional's model, methodological indications, programs of disciplines and subjects were analyzed, where it is corroborated that it constitutes a theoretical content of the disciplines Investigative Work Training, General Pedagogical Training and Speech Therapy, although its use in an integrated manner in terms of the development of the professional skills to be developed in each year was not verified.

The process of integration of the contents of the aforementioned disciplines requires declaring the interdisciplinary relationships that allow the design of integrating tasks for the use of case studies in academic, labor, research and extension activities, as a function of the development of professional pedagogical skills.

Based on the previous analysis, we reflect on the importance of the use of case studies for the development of professional pedagogical skills in the initial training of speech-language pathologists. In this sense, a resizing of the case study as a didactic resource is offered as a function of the development of the professional pedagogical skills necessary to direct comprehensive speech therapy care in the different contexts of action.

Development

The analysis of definitions, characteristics, requirements and conditions of case studies and the coincidence with the criteria provided by different researchers, particularly ^{Guirado (2011}), allowed to support the criterion that the case study is a didactic resource in the initial training of the speech therapist, provides concrete data to analyze and propose solutions to professional problems related to the management of the process of comprehensive speech therapy care, and in turn is a mediator for the development of professional pedagogical skills.

The case study as a didactic resource allows the selection of contents, objectives, methods, means of teaching and forms of evaluation taking into account the level of development of skills reached by the students, an important element that supports its relationship with the professional approach.

The theoretical study carried out allowed determining the functions of the case study as a didactic resource in the Bachelor's Degree in Speech Therapy Education. These are: it brings students closer to real or simulated situations that allow the acquisition of knowledge and training and development of professional pedagogical skills; it promotes the formation of values in students; it contributes to the theory-practice relationship, facilitates the development of interdisciplinary relationships, favors the development of research skills and allows the active, reflective and creative participation of students in the teaching-learning process.

The results obtained from the analysis of the normative documents of the career; the interview with the coordinator of the career, heads of disciplines, main professors of the year and a survey of students of the Bachelor's Degree in Speech Therapy Education allowed us to arrive at the following regularities. The case study appears identified as content in the disciplines, Speech Therapy, General Pedagogical Training and Investigative Work Training, the latter being the one that concretizes in the work practice the development of students' skills according to the objectives of each year.

In the Speech Therapy discipline, case studies are taught as content in the second year of the course. The development of skills that students achieve in the use of case studies will serve as a basis to apply them in the attention to communication and language disorders, particularly to deepen in the basic functions of diagnosis; however, it does not appear explicitly how it should be used according to the ability of the year. At the end of the course, students must demonstrate mastery of the case study method for their future professional performance.

In the discipline of General Pedagogical Training, for the use of case studies, the contents received in General Psychology in the first year are taken up again and integrated from the second year, with the subject Diagnosis, Psychopathology and Psychotherapy, and later in the other Psychologies related to the different special educational needs. From the discipline program, it is recognized that case studies will allow deepening in specialized diagnostic methods, identifying needs and potentialities, design and modeling of actions, which will prepare them to exercise the direction of comprehensive educational attention to diversity, from the integration of knowledge linked to particular didactics or other disciplines.

Labor Training and Research Discipline has a basic role for the development of the professional pedagogical skills of the students of the Bachelor's Degree in Speech Therapy Education, since it is the one who guides their academic, labor, research and extension training. She is responsible for integrating the contents of the other disciplines of the course, promoting the relationship between theory and practice. Emphasis is placed on the development of professional pedagogical skills through case studies, in order to deepen the training of the future speech therapist to solve problems of professional practice according to the needs of each territory.

The programs and plans of systematic and concentrated labor practice, show that from the integrating discipline, students apply in labor practice all the contents of the subjects of the year and investigate professional problems related to comprehensive speech therapy care, through the application of educational research tools, diagnose language disorders and direct comprehensive speech therapy care in the educational institutions where they perform their practice.

In the subject methodology of educational research, which belongs to the main integrating discipline, the case study is used by students as a tool for the research they develop, although in the validations of the study plan E, of previous courses and practice plans, the design of activities that favor the use of the case study is found, but they have not been conceived in an integrated manner, due to the lack of interdisciplinarity from the methodological work.

When studying the subject programs of the disciplines mentioned above, it was possible to conclude that the case study is conceived from the design of the subject programs, as a teaching task and integrating evaluations when analyzing simulated situations of different problems related to communication and language, learning, psychological development and the search for solutions to them. It is also used in different types of classes and integrative evaluations and as a research method in course work and diplomas.

It is considered correct the treatment that is carried out from the conception of the topics directed to the selection, research and evolution of cases during the speech therapy attention, a report is elaborated and this is discussed during the final evaluation with the exposition of the main results, achievements, difficulties and their causes, which allows channeling the projection of the subsequent work.

In the interview with the career coordinator, heads of disciplines and main professors of the year, it was found that all professors agree that the case study allows students to acquire research tools and to deepen in the psycho-pedagogical and linguistic characteristics of the students and the contexts where they develop, their causes and design strategies for comprehensive care, in addition to enhancing the development of research skills, however, they could not argue the relationship that its use has with the pedagogical professional skills to be developed in each year.

They state that regardless of whether the case study is carried out individually or in a group, there is communication at all times, favoring the exchange of opinions between those directing the study with the participants, between the students with the professors, as well as among the students themselves. In the discussion of cases, students express their opinions and confront their points of view, demonstrating the communicative skills acquired in their undergraduate training. During the classes the students expose their cases, exchange about them, each student contributes criteria that contribute to improve the work and obtain better results in the students, but they lack arguments that propitiate the analysis with depth to make decisions, especially in the third and fourth years.

Subsequently, a survey was applied to students of the Bachelor's Degree in Speech Therapy Education to investigate the impact caused by the use of the case study in undergraduate training, who state that they have theoretical and methodological knowledge about the case study: what are its characteristics, objectives, types and methodology for its use. In addition, they have both printed and digital bibliography for its study, but the skills developed during the four years have been insufficient for its adequate use, since there is a lack of training from the classroom and specifically in the work practice to integrate the theoretical knowledge acquired according to the professional pedagogical skill to be developed in each year.

The results of the applied methods, allowed to identify insufficiencies in the design and execution of the case study as a didactic resource according to the development of the professional pedagogical skill to be developed in each year, which contribute to the direction of the ALI. This result corroborates the need to carry out a resizing of the case study for the initial training of the speech-language pathologist, in correspondence with the pedagogical professional skill of each academic year.

In this sense, the relevance of the operationalization made by ^{Parés (2018}) of the pedagogical professional skill directing the process of comprehensive speech therapy care is indisputable, determining as actions: characterizing, diagnosing, modeling and executing. In this sense, the criterion of the aforementioned author is shared, when stating that "taking into account the functions of skills, actions may cease to be skills to become specific skills when these are subordinated to an objective." (^{Parés (2018}, p.41).

The following is the resizing of the case study as a didactic resource according to the professional pedagogical skill to be developed in each academic year.

To characterize the communication and language of the learners, the educational process, the family and the community at the preschool, primary and special education levels.

Characterizing constitutes the professional pedagogical skill in the first year of the career; (^{Strauss & Corbin, 2002}) defines it as a description or conceptual ordering, which is done from the perspective of the person who performs it. This activity of characterizing is based on a work of documentary inquiry of the past and present of a phenomenon, and as far as possible is free of interpretations, since its purpose is essentially descriptive.

In the first year, regardless of the fact that students do not yet know the characteristics of a case study because it is not part of the contents of any subject of the year, it is used through simulated situations of reality where students must observe the features that distinguish the educational contexts of school, family and community, as well as the anatomophysiological, psychological and pedagogical characteristics of students belonging to preschool, primary and special education levels.

The methodological work in the disciplines of Investigative Work Training, General Pedagogical Training and Speech Therapy should be organized from the first year with tasks that integrate the contents of the different subjects. These should be directed to the observation and analysis of the educational process and the participation of the family and the community in the process, determine the characteristics of each context from its contribution to the development of language and identify the anatomophysiological, psychological and pedagogical regularities of the learners according to age.

The students' mastery of the ability to characterize in the first year is a prerequisite for the student to diagnose communication and language disorders in the learners in the next year.

Diagnose typical problems of speech therapy in different educational contexts.

Diagnosis is the professional pedagogical skill to be developed in the second year. For (^{Monzón, 2014}) diagnosis is the process and result in which achievements and needs are identified in the different stages of language and communication development; using methods and procedures that allow specifying the affected level, the specific disorder and the structuring of the manifestations taking into account the different contexts for the characterization of this process and the successful educational response.

The case study is introduced as content in the subject Diagnosis, Psychopathology and Psychotherapy, where the definitions, characteristics, units of study, objectives, types, stages, methodology for its application, requirements and report of the case study are approached.

For the use of case studies as a didactic resource in the second year, in order to develop the professional pedagogical ability to diagnose, it is important for students to master the aspects that make up the speech therapy exploration, as well as the procedures and techniques to be used, since it is considered the ideal working method for the speech therapist teacher. Complementary methods and techniques such as observation, interviews, questionnaires, surveys, document review, projective techniques, among others, should also be used as part of the case study, in order to identify potentialities and needs in educational contexts.

Interdisciplinarity is materialized from the methodological work in the discipline and year groups, with the design of integrating tasks that allow the use of different types of case studies. For this purpose, the contents of the different subjects are selected and real or simulated situations are planned to be used in the development of classes, study practice, students' research work, research work practice, evaluations and other forms of organization of the teaching-learning process.

It is valid to take into account the realization of the integrating tasks designed in the community projects. In this sense, the teachers of the year and tutors of the labor practice are responsible for promoting the execution of the integrating tasks designed by the students and their control.

Once the case studies have been completed and the diagnosis of typical speech therapy problems has been reached, the students are in a position to model speech therapy strategies, speech therapy class system, family orientation activities and methodological activities directed to the teaching staff.

Model activities of the comprehensive speech therapy care process.

Modeling is the professional pedagogical skill to be developed in the third year, it constitutes one of the most complex skills to be achieved in the initial training of the speech-language pathologist teacher. It consists of the selection and structuring of the didactic components of the activities so that they respond in an integral way to the speech-language diagnosis of the learners and the educational contexts in which they are developed.

For the use of the case study in function of the development of the professional pedagogical skill modeling, the student should start from the personalized and explanatory diagnosis, the selection of the didactic components for the logopedic attention strategy, system of logopedic classes, family orientation activities and methodological activities directed to the teaching staff.

One of the parts of the case study is the modeling of speech therapy activities, in which students must select the didactic components: objective, content, organizational form, teaching means, methods, evaluation methods and also define the role of the speech therapy teacher and the rest of the socializing agents.

The case study in the third year will be projected from the subjects that belong to the disciplines Investigative Work Training, General Pedagogical Training and Speech Therapy, because, it is in them where the actions for its achievement in the pedagogical practice are integrated. These actions are part of the design of the case study; therefore, they must be conceived for their implementation in the different forms of organization.

The systematic work of the students in the modeling of speech therapy activities and the use of different methods by the teachers of the subjects should favor the gradual acquisition of knowledge and skills for their application in similar situations and later, in new situations. As a requirement, the student should direct the activities when he/she consolidates the achievement of the modeling skill, this guarantees both the quality of the activity and the student's confidence to assume this responsibility.

Direct activities of the comprehensive speech therapy care process.

Directing is the professional pedagogical skill to be developed in the fourth year. According to ^{Parés (2018}) directing the process of comprehensive speech therapy care is:

Coordinate the system of educational influences exercised by the school, family and community based on the personalized and explanatory diagnosis of communication and language, in which the integral method for prevention, stimulation and development of language, correction and compensation of communication and language disorders is used as a way (p.41).

In order for the speech-language pathologist teacher to efficiently lead the ALI process, he/she must become a leader, a communicative model where the identity for the profession prevails. His/her professional performance must be characterized by the predominance of values such as: professionalism, responsibility, fairness, ethics and pedagogical exigency.

In order to direct activities of the process of integral logopedic care, the student, through the use of the case study, must create the preconditions, implement the results of the modeling and evaluate the fulfillment of the proposed objective. During the direction of the process, the strategies of logopedic care are redesigned, which respond to the updating of the diagnosis and the evaluation of the effectiveness of the logopedic activities.

The teachers of the disciplines Investigative Labor Training, General Pedagogical Training and Speech Therapy will use various types of integrative tasks that favor the increase of independence, responsibility, creativity, individual and group growth during the direction of the activities developed through case studies, in correspondence with the demands of the educational context of professional performance.

During the management of comprehensive speech therapy care, it is necessary to take into account the following indicators to be evaluated: mastery of the content, adequate use of the mother tongue, efficient use of Information Communication Technologies, attention to individual differences as well as the level of independence achieved.

To evaluate the mastery of the content it is important to take into account the methods used in correspondence with the type of activity and the diagnosis. The evaluation of the adequate use of the mother tongue focuses on the demonstration of the student's communicative skills, a characteristic that distinguishes the speech therapist teacher for being a linguistic model in the context where he/she develops.

The efficient use of Information Communication Technologies can be evaluated according to the way it is used, for all the benefits it brings to the speech therapy work as an aid, support and complement for the development of communicative skills.

The attention to individual differences is designed from the modeling of the speech therapy activity, so it is evaluated through the attention to the needs detected in the diagnosis. In addition, the level of independence of the student is evaluated based on the responsibility and quality in the management of comprehensive speech therapy in different educational contexts.

Conclusions

The identification and treatment of professional pedagogical skills in the Bachelor's Degree in Speech Therapy Education has evolved depending on the demands of the different professional models and study plans. In the current study plan, the following are declared as professional pedagogical skills to be developed during the initial training: characterizing, diagnosing, modeling and directing comprehensive speech therapy care.

The theoretical conceptions presented on the case study, made it possible to support the criterion that in the initial training of the speech therapist, the case study as a didactic resource, provides concrete data to analyze and propose solutions to professional problems related to the management of the process of comprehensive speech therapy care, and in turn is a mediator for the development of professional pedagogical skills, also allowed establishing the relationships between the ways of using the case study and the professional pedagogical skill to be developed in each academic year.

Referencias bibliográficas

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Ardila, I. D. (2020). Estudio de caso: una estrategia de aprendizaje significativo en farmacología en estudiantes de enfermería. Paradigmas Socio-Humanísticos, 2(1), 17-25.

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Parés, R.M. (2018). La formación laboral investigativa de los estudiantes de la carrera Licenciatura en Educación Logopedia para dirigir la atención logopédica integral (Tesis doctoral). Universidad de Ciego de Ávila Máximo Gómez Báez, Cuba.

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Received: February 22, 2023; Revised: March 12, 2023; Accepted: May 20, 2023

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