Patrones de aprendizaje de estudiantes de posgrado en salud pública: relaciones con la identidad, la formación y el trabajo de profesores enBrasil

Introduction The relationships between the learning patterns of postgraduate students and their social representations of professional identity, teaching work and pedagogical training at the postgraduate level in health at a Brazilian institution are analyzed. Method 166 graduate students who responded to the ILS questionnaire participated in the study. Cluster analysis was performed to identify learning patterns. In addition, 25 teachers were interviewed in focus group sessions to identify professional identity, pedagogical training and teaching work. The data are analyzed using the Collective Subject Discourse technique. The study was approved by a Brazilian ethics committee. Results Cluster analysis revealed four patterns of student learning: RD-flexible (28.3%), AD (31.9%), MD (25.4%) and UD (14.5%). The focus groups made it possible to infer certain categories for each of the dimensions analyzed in the teachers: Professional identity (socio-political context and commitment to public services, credibility and diversity of the institutional environment, teaching experience and practice), Teaching work (work management, conditions and process) and pedagogical training (needs and demands, student profile and interpersonal relations). Conclusion The perceptions on the dimensions of professional identity, teaching work and pedagogical training made it possible to incorporate intersubjective and contextual elements to the understanding of learning patterns; and based on this, guidelines are defined for the design of training itineraries in higher education in health that promote a critical and reflective education with active participation of students.