Nursing Students’ Perceptions about Effective Pedagogy: Netnographic Analysis

BackgroundEffective pedagogy that encourages high standards of excellence and commitment to lifelong learning is essential in health professions education to prepare students for real-life challenges such as health disparities and global health issues. Creative learning and innovative teaching strategies empower students with high-quality, practical, real-world knowledge and meaningful skills to reach their potential as future health care providers. ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to explore health profession students’ perceptions of whether their learning experiences were associated with good or bad pedagogy during asynchronous discussion forums. The further objective of the study was to identify how perceptions of the best and worst pedagogical practices reflected the students’ values, beliefs, and understanding about factors that made a pedagogy good during their learning history. MethodsA netnographic qualitative design was employed in this study. The data were collected on February 3, 2020 by exporting archived data from multiple sessions of a graduate-level nursing course offered between the fall 2016 and spring 2020 semesters at a large private university in the southeast region of the United States. Each student was a data unit. As an immersive data operation, field notes were taken by all research members. Data management and analysis were performed with NVivo 12. ResultsA total of 634 posts were generated by 153 students identified in the dataset. Most of these students were female (88.9%). From the 97 categories identified, four themes emerged: (T) teacher presence built through relationship and communication, (E) environment conducive to affective and cognitive learning, (A) assessment and feedback processes that yield a growth mindset, and (M) mobilization of pedagogy through learner- and community-centeredness. ConclusionsThe themes that emerged from our analysis confirm findings from previous studies and provide new insights. Our study highlights the value of technology as a tool for effective pedagogy. A resourceful teacher can use various communication techniques to develop meaningful connections between the learner and teacher. Styles of communication will vary according to the unique expectations and needs of learners with different learning preferences; however, the aim is to fully engage each learner, establish a rapport between and among students, and nurture an environment characterized by freedom of expression in which ideas flow freely. We suggest that future research continue to explore the influence of differing course formats and pedagogical modalities on student learning experiences

The socioeconomic impact of shared appreciation mortgages on borrowers: empirical evidence from South Australia

Shared appreciation mortgages (SAMs) realign traditional incentives in the lender–borrower relationship by substituting future capital gains for interest income. This makes them a potentially innovative solution to affordability and other homeownership crises. Taxation and regulatory barriers have impeded SAM development limiting empirical studies of their impact on households. This has not been the case in South Australia where State government implementation of SAMs has made available a unique and detailed dataset of low-income SAM-financed households. Examining this population, it is found that SAM borrowers benefit from increased budgetary expenditure on discretionary items following take-up, while simultaneously saving on some non-discretionary items relative to a control sample. Furthermore, SAM homeownership also seems associated with increased borrower levels of neighbourhood satisfaction and community involvement. Overall, these results indicate that SAM-financed homeownership leads to changes in borrower behaviour and deserves further consideration by the housing industry and research community. George Mihaylov and Ralf Zurbrueg