Blended Learning: An Exploration of the Experiences of Lecturers and Students in Post Qualification Nurse Education

Blended learning (BL), defined broadly as a mixture of face-to-face teaching and e-learning, is a concept that has been developed across education. Nurse education has relatively recently adopted this learning mode which has largely arisen as resources have been reduced and the purchasers of education, primarily the National Health Service, require their growing workforce to have increased access to wide professional development opportunities. This can lead to problems as BL in nurse education is largely untested. This study considered the experiences of lecturers and students regarding BL in post qualification nurse education. Understanding lecturers’ and students’ perceptions of this change is important to facilitate a smooth transition and ultimately to ensure that blended learning enhances the learning and teaching experiences. An interpretive, in-depth, qualitative approach in one nursing school setting was adopted. An initial study, with two focus groups to elicit student and lecturer experiences of blended learning in post-qualification education, informed the conduct of the main study and the interview questions. The main study involved semi-structured interviews with three lecturers and ten students, purposively selected as participants. Data were analysed thematically. The findings indicated a lack of understanding of BL. Issues raised included problems with accessing information technology. Lecturers viewed blended learning only in terms of the e-learning site and this site was only used by them as a repository for information; thus for them blended learning was not an interactive concept. In contrast students wanted the interaction creating potential discord between students and lecturers. The reduced sense of community and student isolation were concepts that were also raised by several participants. The study developed a more precise definition of BL and a useful conceptual framework which was informed by the Conversational Framework of Laurillard (2002) and the Community of Inquiry Framework of Garrison and Anderson (2003)

University student practices and perceptions on eating behaviours whilst living away from home

Transition to university is a vulnerable time and associated with adverse health behaviors. Purchasing and consuming healthy food is generally not a high priority due to other challenges they face. This study explored the dietary practices and perceptions which influenced eating behaviors of university students when living away from home. Forty-two university students (n 27 male) participated in 8 focus groups which identified four themes as being barriers to eating a healthier diet, namely Physical Environment, University lifestyle, self-confidence, and personal factors. Food choice is a complex behavior and these findings when applied to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs suggests that basic physiological needs for food is prioritized and only when this is satisfied is making healthier food choices considered

An Online Survey on Consumer Knowledge and Understanding of Added Sugars.

Evidence of an association between added sugars (AS) and the risk of obesity has triggered public health bodies to develop strategies enabling consumers to manage their AS intake. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has strongly recommended a reduction of free sugars to 10% of total dietary energy (TE) and conditionally recommended a reduction to 5% TE to achieve health benefits. Despite food labelling being a policy tool of choice in many countries, there is no consensus on the mandatory addition of AS to the nutrition panel of food labels. An online survey was conducted to explore consumer ability to identify AS on food labels and to investigate consumer awareness of the WHO guidelines in relation to sugar intakes. The questionnaire was tested for participant comprehension using face-to-face interviews prior to conducting the online study. The online survey was conducted in Northern Ireland during May 2015 and was completed by a convenient sample of 445 subjects. Results showed that just 4% of respondents correctly classified 10 or more ingredients from a presented list of 13 items, while 65% of participants were unaware of the WHO guidelines for sugar intake. It may be timely to reopen dialogue on inclusion of AS on food product nutrition panels