An Examination of the Application of Problem Based Learning: A Valuable Tool to Improve Student Learning or a Challenging Teaching Adjustment?

Pedagogic transitions towards constructivist, student-centred learning models have increased applications of active teaching methods such as problem-based learning (PBL), but little research has explored student perceptions of PBL applications within undergraduate geography curricula. This paper aims to determine whether PBL applications are beneficial to student learning and development; and to determine whether PBL applications such as a migration management case study are suitable for continued use within the undergraduate geography degree programme at the University of Hertfordshire. This study examines the utility of PBL by reviewing existing education and discipline specific literature and by studying geography student reflections of a PBL migration management activity. The findings suggest that undergraduate geography students are largely receptive to PBL applications and find the inclusion of PBL activities within lectures to be useful and engaging. Although challenges can be associated with implementing PBL into higher education curricula, these challenges can be alleviated by using recommendations for best practice and it appears that the advantages of PBL applications for student learning and development strongly outweigh initial adjustment challenges. The predominantly positive student feedback demonstrates that the PBL migration case study is a beneficial addition to the geography degree programme at the University of Hertfordshire and that further applications of PBL within the curricula could be extremely valuable for undergraduate geography students

Maintaining connectivity and enhancing communication through the use of text messaging in an undergraduate nursing programme

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a study that examined the use of a Short Message Service (SMS) (or ‘Text Messaging’) to enhance communication and participation with students on an undergraduate nursing programme. The ideology behind the study is based on an awareness that technology is not always recognised by nursing students as a useful aspect of their education and practice. Therefore it was considered that integrating this ubiquitous from of technology use might help them to recognise the usefulness of technology as an aid to enhance and develop more effective ways of learning and working. Short Message Service (SMS) is a communications protocol allowing the interchange of short text messages between mobile phones. It is the most widely available data application on the planet with over 2.4 billion users (Wikipedia 2008). The advantages in using SMS messaging include ‘always-on’ communication, connectivity to real world learning contexts, ‘top of mind’ direct access and ‘just for me’ personal communication (Jones & Bunting 2008). The widespread availability of mobile phones provides an opportunity to establish and maintain a sense of connectedness in helping learners to engage with their programme of study as almost everyone can participate in synchronous and asynchronous communication. Laurillard (2008) suggests that we should ‘harness technology to meet the needs of education rather than simply search for problems to which technology is the solution’. This concept has particular relevance for the learners in this study who undertake clinical learning experiences throughout their programme of study that are geographically dispersed over a large area for periods of time ranging from two to eight weeks. Text messaging was used to develop and maintain strong links between the tutor/programme director and the students throughout the duration of the programme

Patient safety competencies in undergraduate nursing students: a rapid evidence assessment

Aims To identify patient safety competencies, and determine the clinical learning environments that facilitate the development of patient safety competencies in nursing students. Background Patient safety in nursing education is of key importance for health professional environments, settings, and care systems. To be effective, safe nursing practice requires a good integration between increasing knowledge and the different clinical practice settings. Nurse educators have the responsibility to develop effective learning processes and ensure patient safety. Design Rapid Evidence Assessment. Data Sources MEDLINE, CINAHL, SCOPUS, and ERIC were searched, yielding 500 citations published between 1 January 2004 - 30 September 2014. Review Methods Following the Rapid Evidence Assessment process, 17 studies were included in this review. Hawker's (2002) quality assessment tool was used to assess the quality of the selected studies. Results Undergraduate nursing students need to develop competencies to ensure patient safety. The quality of the pedagogical atmosphere in the clinical setting has an important impact on the students’ overall level of competence. Active student engagement in clinical processes stimulates their critical reasoning, improves interpersonal communication, and facilitates adequate supervision and feedback. Conclusion Few studies describe the nursing students’ patient safety competencies and exactly what they need to learn. In addition, studies describe only briefly which clinical learning environments facilitate the development of patient safety competencies in nursing students. Further research is needed to identify additional pedagogical strategies and the specific characteristics of the clinical learning environments that encourage the development of nursing students’ patient safety competencies

Surfing or still drowning? Student nurses’ Internet skills

A study into student nurses’ ability to use the Internet was published in Nurse Education Today in 2004. This paper repeats the research with a cohort of students starting their pre-registration programme in a UK university in 2007. In 2004 students were reported as having poor Internet skills, and as not being frequent users of the Internet. In this study students were found to have significantly better ability to carry out basic tasks and significantly higher levels of Internet use. Their ability to apply these skills to more complex information literacy tasks however had not increased, with more than half of all students saying they found far too much irrelevant information when searching for specific information on the Internet. The earlier study found that skills and age were not related, which appears to still be the case. The need for these skills is increasing as education, lifelong learning, and patient information are all increasingly drawing on the developing Internet. Nurse education however is not integrating the skill and knowledge base essential to support this into pre-registration programmes, and the evidence suggests that this will not happen without active management

Perceptions Among Students in Online Health Related Courses - A Pilot Study

Given the proliferation of online courses in university education, continuous evaluation is imperative to ensure quality. This study utilized a quantitative descriptive design using a questionnaire to explore the perceived adequacy and acceptance of distance learning in undergraduate health related courses. Questions were designed to elicit students\u27 reactions to teaching methods, course content, and how the format influenced their learning. Overall, acceptance of online courses is high. Most of the students were willing to take another online course in the future. Respondents felt that online courses offer more flexibility, encourage both independent and critical thinking skills, and that the course materials reinforce the learning process. Students also felt that educators were able to adequately explain concepts, provide sufficient assistance, and that the instruction was both current and at the appropriate level. Both students and faculty will benefit from the study by helping to facilitate the improved quality of online courses

The context, influences and challenges for undergraduate nurse clinical education: Continuing the dialogue

Introduction – Approaches to clinical education are highly diverse and becoming increasingly complex to sustain in complex milieu Objective – To identify the influences and challenges of providing nurse clinical education in the undergraduate setting and to illustrate emerging solutions. Method: A discursive exploration into the broad and varied body of evidence including peer reviewed and grey literature. Discussion - Internationally, enabling undergraduate clinical learning opportunities faces a range of challenges. These can be illustrated under two broad themes: (1) Legacies from the past and the inherent features of nurse education and (2) Challenges of the present, including, population changes, workforce changes, and the disconnection between the health and education sectors. Responses to these challenges are triggering the emergence of novel approaches, such as collaborative models. Conclusion(s) – Ongoing challenges in providing accessible, effective and quality clinical learning experiences are apparent

Development of a programme to facilitate interprofessional simulation-based training for final year undergraduate healthcare students

Original report can be found at: http://www.health.heacademy.ac.uk/publications/miniproject/alinier260109.pdfIntroduction: Students have few opportunities to practise alongside students from other disciplines. Simulation offers an ideal context to provide them with concrete experience in a safe and controlled environment. This project was about the development of a programme to facilitate interprofessional scenario-based simulation training for final year undergraduate healthcare students and explored whether simulation improved trainees’ knowledge of other healthcare discipline’s roles and skills. Methods: A multidisciplinary academic project team was created and trained for the development and facilitation of this project. The team worked on the development of appropriate multiprofessional scenarios and a strategy to recruit the final year students on a volunteer basis to the project. By the end of the project 95 students were involved in small groups to one of fifteen 3-hour interprofessional simulation sessions. Staff role played the relatives, doctor on call, and patient when it was more appropriate than using a patient simulator (Laerdal SimMan/SimBaby) in the simulated community setting and paediatric or adult emergency department. Each session had 3 to 4 of the following disciplines represented (Adult/Children/Learning Disability Nursing, Paramedic, Radiography, Physiotherapy) and each student observed and took part in one long and relevant high-fidelity scenario. Half the students were randomly selected to fill in a 40-item questionnaire testing their knowledge of other disciplines before the simulation (control group) and the others after (experimental group). Students were assessed on the questions relating to the disciplines represented in their session. Results: By the end of the project 95 questionnaires were collected of which 45 were control group students (Questionnaire before simulation) and 50 experimental group students (Questionnaire after simulation). Both groups were comparable in terms of gender, discipline and age representation. Participants were: Adult nurses (n=46), Children’s nurses (n=4), Learning Disability nurses (n=7), Nurses, Paramedics (n=8), Radiographers (n=20), Physiotherapists (n=8). 15 sessions were run with an average of around 7 participants and at least 3 disciplines represented. The knowledge test results about the disciplines represented was significantly different between the control and experimental groups (Control 73.80%, 95% CI 70.95-76.65; and Experimental 78.81%, 95% CI 75.76-81.87, p=0.02). In addition, there were sometimes reliable differences between the groups in their view of multidisciplinary training; confidence about working as part of a multidisciplinary team was 3.33 (SD=0.80, Control) and 3.79 (SD=0.90, Experimental), p=0.011; their anticipation that working as part of a multidisciplinary team would make them feel anxious was 2.67 (SD=1.17, Control) and 2.25 (SD=1.04, Experimental), p=0.073; their perception of their knowledge of what other healthcare professionals can or cannot do was 3.00 (SD=0.91, Control) and 3.35 (SD=0.93, Experimental), p=0.066; their view that learning with other healthcare students before qualification will improve their relationship after qualification was 3.93 (SD=1.14, Control) and 4.33 (SD=0.81, Experimental), p=0.055; their opinion about interprofessional learning helping them to become better team workers before qualification was 3.96 (SD=1.24, Control) and 4.42 (SD=0.77, Experimental), p=0.036. Conclusions: Although the difference is relatively small (~5%), the results demonstrate that students gained confidence and knowledge about the skills and role of other disciplines involved in their session. Through simulation, the positivism of students about different aspects of learning or working with other healthcare disciplines has significantly improved. Students gained knowledge of other disciplines simply by being given the opportunity to take part in a multiprofessional scenario and observe another one. The results of the test and their reported perception about multidisciplinary team working suggest that they are better prepared to enter the healthcare workforce. Discussions during the debriefings highlighted the fact that multidisciplinary training is important. The main challenges identified have been the voluntary student attendance and timetabling issues forcing us to run the session late in the day due to the number of disciplines involved in each session and their different placement rota. The aim is now to timetable formally this session within their curriculum. Introducing simulation in the undergraduate curriculum should facilitate its implementation as Continuing Professional Development once these students become qualified healthcare professionals

A Framework of Academic Persistence and Success for Ethnically Diverse Graduate Nursing Students

The goal of this qualitative study was to examine how ethnically diverse graduate nursing students persisted with academic studies. Ethnically diverse nurses are vastly underrepresented in the workforce. This problem is accentuated by high attrition rates in academic programs. A grounded theory approach was used. Five focus groups were conducted with 16 ethnically diverse graduate students in nursing and interviews were conducted with two diversity advisers. Analysis of the data indicated that the process of learning to balance stressors with moderators was key to academic persistence and retention. A conceptual framework emerged from the data that provides a guide for academic institutions seeking to implement strategies to promote retention and graduation of diverse graduate nursing students. Recommendations are offered to address faculty development, administrative action, and student resources. Aim. The goal of this qualitative study was to examine how ethnically diverse graduate nursing students persisted with academic studies. Background. Ethnically diverse nurses are vastly underrepresented in the workforce. This problem is accentuated by high attrition rates in academic programs. Method. A grounded theory approach was used. Five focus groups were conducted with 16 ethnically diverse graduate students in nursing and interviews were conducted with two diversity advisers. Results. Analysis of the data indicated that the process of learning to balance stressors with moderators was key to academic persistence and retention. A conceptual framework emerged from the data that provides a guide for academic institutions seeking to implement strategies to promote retention and graduation of diverse graduate nursing students. Conclusion. Recommendations are offered to address faculty development, administrative action, and student resources

An exploration into the use of the digital platform Slack to support group assessments and feedback and the impact on engagement - Working Paper

Funded by Teaching Innovation Project (DMU)Assessment and feedback is consistently highlighted as an area where students feel Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) could improve and regularly scores lowest of the key criteria for student satisfaction (Grove, 2014). Furthermore, group assessment, where students not only need to learn assessment requirements, but also social skills required to work collaboratively (Reiser, 2017), can create additional challenges. The majority of university students have grown up as digital natives, with 81% of students reporting use of mobile devices whilst studying (Al-Emran, Elsherif & Shaalan, 2016). There is a requirement to consider more brave and innovative technological approaches to supporting students. This working paper explores whether adopting an industry tool Slack, a Computer-Mediated Communication platform, can be an effective tool in group assessments. More specifically, can Slack facilitate an innovative and collaborative group learning community for mediating and supporting group assessments amongst level 5 undergraduate marketing students and additionally develop graduate competencies. Proposing a programme of qualitative inquiry, using a multi-method case study approach, data will be collected through six focus groups of 8-10 students and two semi-structured individual interviews with members of the teaching team in order to evaluate the use of Slack in supporting and engaging students in group assessments