Considerations for Developing a Student Evaluation of Teaching Form

Implementation science in nursing education research: An exemplar

INTRODUCTION

Using evidence-based teaching approaches can improve nursing students' learning. However, variation in how - or if - these approaches are implemented by faculty and nursing educators is prevalent. A thorough, applied understanding of how evidence-based teaching approaches can best be implemented in the educational setting is lacking.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this project was to use an implementation science framework to implement and evaluate the quality of a doctor of nursing practice (DNP) course before and after implementing evidence-based revisions to course delivery and composition.

DESIGN

A pre/post design was used to evaluate course outcomes following implementation of evidence-based teaching approaches.

SETTING

A small, private university in the southeastern United States.

PARTICIPANTS

Students who enrolled in a DNP healthcare quality improvement course.

METHODS

An implementation science framework for integrating evidence-based teaching approaches was used to guide this project. Revisions were made to a DNP course, with evidence-based teaching approaches implemented using strategies including a dedicated course facilitator, faculty education, interactive assistance to course faculty, and detailed rubrics to ensure consistency in grading between sections. Outcomes included course evaluation scores, qualitative student comments, and student engagement measured via the average number of discussion board posts authored and read.

RESULTS

After using the implementation science framework to translate evidence-based teaching approaches, there was a statistically significant improvement in three course evaluation questions and the overall course mean. Qualitative comments showed that students found the revisions beneficial to their learning. There was no change in student engagement.

CONCLUSIONS

Using a structured implementation science framework and plan to translate and evaluate evidence-based teaching approaches resulted in significant improvements in course outcomes. Nurse educators should consider using an implementation framework to guide course revisions.

Characteristics of good clinical teachers in anesthesiology from medical students' perspective: a qualitative descriptive study

PURPOSE

Learning needs are influenced by the stage of learning and medical specialty. We sought to investigate the characteristics of a good clinical teacher in anesthesiology from the medical students' perspective.

METHODS

We conducted a qualitative descriptive study to analyze written comments of medical students about their clinical teachers' performances. Our analysis strategy was the inductive content analysis method. The results are reported as a descriptive summary with major themes as the final product.

RESULTS

Our study identified four themes. The first theme, teachers' individual characteristics, includes characteristics that are usually more related to students' subjective experiences and feelings. The second theme, teachers' characteristics that advance student learning, seems to be one of the most important contributions to learning because it increases the practice of procedural skills. The third theme, teachers' characteristics that prepare students for success, shows characteristics that facilitate students' learning by promoting a healthy and safe environment. Lastly, the fourth theme, characteristics related to teaching approaches, includes characteristics that can guide clinical teachers more objectively.

CONCLUSION

Our analysis of the written comments of medical students identified many characteristics of a good clinical teacher that were organized in four different themes. These themes contribute to expand on existing understandings of clinical teaching in the anesthesiology clerkship environment, and add new interpretations that can be reflected upon and explored by other clinical educators.

The impact of external academic accreditation of undergraduate medical program on students' satisfaction

BACKGROUND

The external academic accreditation is a quality assurance and auditing process that focuses on the structure, process, and outcome of the education. It is an interrupting and highly demanding process in terms of effort, time, financial, and human resources. However, it is unclear in the literature how much of these external quality assurance practices impeded in the accreditation processes would reflect on the other end of the learning pathway, including student satisfaction.

METHODS

A retrospective quantitative secondary data analysis, with a before-after comparison research design, was performed to evaluate external accreditation's impact on students' mean satisfaction score within two accreditation cycles at King Saud University (KSU)-Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) program.

RESULTS

The overall average students' satisfaction scores pre-and-post the first accreditation cycle were 3.46/5 (±0.35), 3.71 (±0.39), respectively, with a P-value of < 0.001. The effect of post first accreditation cycle was sustainable for a couple of years, then maintained above the baseline of the pre-first accreditation cycle until the pre-second accreditation cycle. Similarly, the overall average students' satisfaction scores pre-and-post the second accreditation cycles were 3.57/5 (±0.30) and 3.70 (±0.34), respectively, with a P-value of 0.04. Compared to the first accreditation cycle, the improvement of the mean score of students' satisfaction rates was not sustained beyond the year corresponding to the post-second accreditation cycle.

CONCLUSION

Both accreditation cycles were associated with an increased score in students' satisfaction. The preparatory phase activities and navigation through the self-study assessment while challenging the program's competencies are essential triggers for quality improvement practices associated with accreditation.

Grade Incentive to Boost Course Evaluation Response Rates

Abstract In most schools of nursing, students rate their satisfaction with courses and teachers at the end of the semester. Low response rates on these evaluations make it difficult to interpret the results. Students were incentivized to complete their course evaluations by adding 1-2 points to one test score in the course in exchange for 85 % or higher participation by the total cohort. Ongoing monitoring and communication to students by faculty during the process was critical to motivating students to complete course evaluations. When the incentive was employed, student participation ranged from a low of 90 % to a high of 100 % response rate. The added points did not change any of the students' grades. Incentivizing students to complete course evaluations is an effective strategy to boost response rates without changing final course grades.