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