Arthur Chickering is Distinguished Professor of Higher Education at Memphis State University. On leave from the Directorship of the Center for the Study of Higher Education at Memphis State, he is Visiting Professor at George Mason University. Zelda Gamson is a sociologist who holds appointments at the John W. McCormack Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Massachusetts-Boston and in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan.

Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education: Faculty Inventory. Institutional Inventory.

Reflective learning journals are recognized as a significant tool in promoting active learning among nursing students. Essentially, nurse educators strive to encourage students to think about past experiences, current situations, and expected outcomes of their actions so that they can explain what they do in the clinical setting and why. In other words, nurse educators seek to promote professional practice that is reflective rather than routine. The purposes in this paper are to discuss the application of two models of reflection to a set of reflective learning journals and to offer some recommendations for educators, researchers, and students. Using a three stage model of reflection (Scanlon & Chernomas, 1997), 52 nursing students explored managerial concepts. The major findings indicated that students may be categorized, according to Kember et al. (1999), as nonreflectors (i.e., lack evidence of deliberate appraisal), reflectors (i.e., demonstrate insight through analysis, discrimination, and evaluation...

Reflective learning journals: From concept to practice

The use of simulation as an educational tool is becoming increasingly prevalent in health care practice. Institutions have adopted simulations to help educate their students and health care professionals; however, intervention effectiveness evaluation continues to be an area requiring research. With use of this technology, it has become necessary to evaluate this method of educating health care professionals. As simulation use has increased, so has the literature related to evaluation of the innovative teaching method. A systematic review of the literature examined the effectiveness of simulation as a teaching tool. The aim was to evaluate current literature on the use of clinical simulation in health care education. The findings identify themes in the evaluation literature, highlight gaps in the literature as it pertains to evaluating the effectiveness of using simulations as a teaching tool, and support the need for further research into the evaluation of simulation as a teaching tool.

Use of Simulation in Teaching and Learning in Health Sciences: A Systematic Review

Background. Critical thinking is essential to nursing practice; therefore, knowledge and understanding of nursing students’ critical thinking skills (CTS) and related dispositions are important to nurse educators. This paper presents the results of a non-experimental study conducted in spring 1998, identifies implications for nurse educators, and offers recommendations for future research.

Aim. The aim of the study was to investigate the CTS and critical thinking dispositions (CTD) of students enrolled in a 4-year baccalaureate programme at a university in Western Canada.

Methods. The study used a cross-sectional design. Data collection occurred during regularly scheduled classes. A volunteer sample of 228 students from all 4 years of the baccalaureate programme completed a background/demographic questionnaire, the California Critical Thinking Skills Test, and the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory. The reliability of the test and inventory were established using the Kuder Richardson 20 and Cronbach Alpha respectively. Both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were carried out.

Findings. Critical thinking mean scores increased from years 1 to 4 with the exception of year 3. However, there was no statistically significant difference among the four student groups. Although differences in critical thinking disposition scores were not statistically significant, students’ scores differed significantly on the systematicity subscale. There was a significant relationship between students’ overall CTS and CTD scores.

Conclusions. Approximately 38% of the students in the current study had adequate levels of CTS and 85·5% of the students had adequate levels of CTD. Results indicate a need for students’ continued development in these areas. Dispositions are crucial to critical thinking; without them critical thinking does not happen or may be substandard.

The relationship of critical thinking skills and critical thinking dispositions of baccalaureate nursing students

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Arts in health: a review of the medical literature

Because scientific writing is an essential skill for advanced practice nurses, it is an important component of graduate education. Faculty typically provide written feedback about student writing, but this may not be the most effective choice for the distance-learning environment. This exploratory pilot study's aim was to compare spoken, recorded feedback with written feedback in three areas: which approach do students perceive as providing more useful guidance; which approach helps students feel more connected to the course; and which approach do instructors prefer? Students enrolled in an evidence-based practice graduate-level course received asynchronous audio feedback on their written assignments instead of the written feedback they received in other courses. Results from a survey completed by 30 students at completion of the course suggest a strong preference for audio feedback. This pilot study suggests that audio feedback may be preferable to written comments for distance learning courses.

Audio feedback for student writing in online nursing courses: exploring student and instructor reactions.

Nursing education trends: future implications and predictions.

In 2002, the NLN's Nursing Education Advisory Council (NEAC) discussed ways to provide guidance to nurse educators in all types of programs about bow to balance increasing demands to cover more and more content (e.g., gerontology, genetics, critical care) with the need to help students develop the knowledge, skills, and values needed to manage increasingly complex patient care situations. One suggestion was to consider publishing a list of essential content areas for nursing programs. However, the thought of yet another list of content to be covered - no matter how thoughtfully and carefully it might be developed - seemed to reinforce the "additive curriculum" (1) model we have followed for so long. The assumption was that it would not lead to strategic reform of nursing education. Being concerned about covering content is a natural disposition for nursing faculty since most of us completed our nursing education in curricula shaped by the Tyler model (2). Course material, tight sequencing, and attention to measurable, behavioral outcomes dominate this design. Within this framework, the curricular construction concentrates on content to be presented as opposed to the actual processes of teaching and learning. Still influenced by this upbringing, many of us today find ourselves gravitating toward a focus on ensuring complete and thorough presentation of content (3). Thinking in New Ways While there have been innovations in nursing education, much of what has been described is a rearrangement of content from one course or semester to another. Lacking in the literature are designs of significant reformation or "paradigm-shifting" changes in nursing education. It appears that nurse educators continue to attempt to teach in the ways they were taught (4). Therefore, NEAC sought to provide a new definition of innovation, defined in terms of the extent to which nurse educators are challenged to think in new ways and explore new possibilities for preparing future generations of nurses. We strongly supported strategic and significant reform, rather than the sporadic and often random use of new teaching methods or new settings for clinical experiences. In our view, nursing education must emphasize student learning, rather than content coverage. This work resulted in the development of the Position Statement on Innovation in Nursing Education, which was endorsed by the NLN Board of Governors in 2003 (3). This call for reform challenges educators to re-think the conventional and traditional pedagogies currently used in nursing edueation and to embrace new approaches to schooling, teaching, and learning. Nurse educators, in partnership with colleagues from nursing service, are asked to endorse substantive innovation, document the effects of the innovation being undertaken, and disseminate information about strategic changes. The overarching goal is to develop a science of nursing education upon which all practicing teachers can draw. Why is this call for reform so timely? First, our students are changing. More are attending part time, and increasing numbers are working long hours to pay for their education. Many already hold a degree in another field, and many are immigrants who have learned English as a second language (5). For these students, conventional pedagogies and traditional approaches, including lectures and passive information gathering, may not fully engage them in the process of learning. Second, faculty in schools of nursing are changing. Many experienced faculty are retiring, and many new faculty have not been prepared for the faculty role. We need to ask ourselves whether we want these new faculty to think of our traditional methods as the only "right" way to teach and design curricula, or whether we want them to explore approaches in which new pedagogies are used and educational research findings are applied. Strategies to Advance Innovation To help advance the idea of substantive innovation in nursing education, NEAC formed the Task Group on Innovation in Nursing Education. …

Substantive innovation in nursing education: shifting the emphasis from content coverage to student learning.

Doctoral programs in nursing: Philosophy, curricula, and program requirements

One of the goals of baccalaureate nursing education is to facilitate students' cognitive development, that is, their ability to employ reason, manage diversity, and engage in contextual decision-making. Despite this goal, however, studies indicate that the majority of nursing students tend to be at the lower levels of development, rather than at more advanced levels. The purpose of the study reported here was to describe the cognitive development of one university's nursing student population at the beginning and end of the freshman year, investigate the effects of planned developmental instruction strategies on cognitive growth, and investigate the relationship among cognitive development, GPA, and SAT scores. While subjects evidenced some cognitive growth, the mean level of cognitive development for all subjects was at the lower end of the scale. Specific instructional strategies are described, statistical and qualitative analyses of groups are reported, and suggestions for further research are proposed.

Theresa M. Valiga

Papers

Audio feedback for student writing in online nursing courses: exploring student and instructor reactions.

Nursing education trends: future implications and predictions.

Substantive innovation in nursing education: shifting the emphasis from content coverage to student learning.

Doctoral programs in nursing: Philosophy, curricula, and program requirements

Promoting the cognitive development of freshman nursing students.