Vol.8, No.1 April 2002
Contents
A Web-based Course for Teaching Undergraduate Nursing Research
Refereed Article
Author
Linda S. Cox, RN, MSN, EdD, CNAA
Director Baccalaureate Nursing Program
Mississippi University for Women
Columbus, Mississippi, 39701 USA
Phone (662) 329-7302
E-mail lcox@muw.edu
Abstract
There is a need in the profession of nursing to upgrade diploma and associate degree educated nurses to baccalaureate educational levels. However, the difficulty involved in traveling distances to the appropriate university, or meeting classes within the usual time frame has been a formidable obstacle for adult learners who have a great many other responsibilities. Asynchronous learning utilizing computer technology has made it possible for many of these nurses to return to school. A search of the literature reveals information concerning the utilization of distance education theory to help define the quality of a course offered in this manner. The ways in which this has been applied to teaching an undergraduate research course over the web are discussed.
Key words: Undergraduate Research Course, nursing education, web-based, asynchronous
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Background
In 1987 the National League for Nursing conducted a study to identify the facilitators and barriers to enrollment by diploma and associate degree graduates in RN/BSN programs. The primary barrier identified by 77% of the respondents was the geographic inaccessibility of baccalaureate programs (National League for Nursing, 1987). The other primary barriers identified were lack of flexibility, inconvenient scheduling, and duplication of nursing knowledge and experiences. Advances have been made by higher education in removing barriers to the baccalaureate degree for registered nurses, but access to programs remains problematic for many. Today the technology of distance education has made it possible to bring the classroom to the student.
Professional nurses must learn to become knowledge workers in order to become the pivotal change agents of the future (Naisbitt, 1994: Toffler, 1993), and fill leadership roles in meeting the health care needs of society in this era of dwindling resources. Fostering collaboration, a skill taught in most baccalaureate programs, is a necessity in the boundaryless organization of tomorrow. Academic, community based health systems will provide primary clinical services, educate students in the health professions, engage in community based research, and address community needs. This partnership of experts in a seamless system requires the broader base of knowledge that higher education provides.
In the 1920s universities delivered educational programs using the "new" technology of radio. The 1930s saw universities broadcast courses over television to distant sites (Havice & Knowles, 1995). However, with both these modalities the activity was one way only from the instructor to the student. The learner had no means of asking questions, obtaining feedback from, or entering into discussion with the teacher. The types of distance education techniques common in the last ten years in the United States are: fiberoptics (two-way audio and video), satellite (one-way video and two-way audio), cable, microwave, and computer driven courses.
Distance Education Theory
A search of the literature revealed two theories useful for the understanding and effective utilization of education which occurs from a distance. Moore’s Transactional Distance theory, and Garrison’s Cognitive Constructionist theory. Moore(1992) states the term distance education includes more than geographical distance, or the distance of space and time. It also includes a distance of understanding and perception, which may be caused in part by the geographical distance. This distance of understanding and perception must be overcome by all if effective teaching and learning is to occur. The transaction between teachers and learners involved in distance education occurs in an environment of physical separation. This physical separation may lead to psychological separation and potential communication failures. This space of potential misunderstanding between teacher and student is the transactional distance. Transactional distance appears to be a continuous rather than a discrete variable, and a relative rather than an absolute term. However, in distance education the separation of instructor and learner are so distinct as to require special techniques and conceptualization. Determination of the effect of distance of understanding and perception in a course is dependent on two variables–dialogue and structure. Dialogue is the ability to communicate with each other in an open discussion for the purpose of examining ideas. The second variable used to determine transactional distance is the structure or course design. Structure encompasses the rigidity or flexibility of the educational objectives, teaching strategies, and evaluation methods. Course structure describes the extent to which an educational program can accommodate or not accommodate diverse learners’ needs. According to Moore success for a distance education project is achieved when the faculty is able to provide the appropriate opportunity for both dialogue and structure. This is supported by Jonassen (1995) in defining the characteristics of meaningful learning as a dialogical process. In addition, Rutherford and Grana (1994) add framework or structure to dialogue for an effective distance education project.
Garrison (1993) contrasts the old paradigm of distance education, which he believes is behaviorally based, with the new paradigm, which he believes is based on Cognitive Constructionist theory. He states the old distance education paradigm of pre-packaged, self-instructional materials is inherently behaviorist in nature regardless of the innovations applied. These materials remain prescriptive. Garrison, like Bevis and Watson (1990) argues that behavioral theory based teaching modalities are inadequate to teach understanding. In most distance education courses little opportunity exists for collaborative decisions, or for the learner to assume responsibility for their own learning constructs. Cognitive Constructionist learning theory is based upon the view that meaningful knowledge is constructed by the individual in a context of experience and prior knowledge. Dialogue with one’s self and others is the tool used to construct meaning. For the Cognitive Constructionist true learning is understanding not measurable behaviors. Since new knowledge can only be constructed by the learner, the role of the teacher becomes one of facilitator. In this way knowledge is not static but fluid and defined by students and teacher, and students with each other. This is best accomplished through two-way communication (dialogue) which challenges and validates knowledge.
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Undergraduate Nursing Research
The student population for whom this course was developed were RN/BSN students in the last two semesters of their senior year. Mississippi is a rural state, and universities are separated by considerable distances. It is not always possible to travel and sustain job and home while an educational goal is pursued. Both literature and experience define this group as well motivated, self starting, and goal oriented.
With this background in mind a home page was developed for the research content occurring in the senior year. Several soft ware packages were evaluated and Netscape Communicator was selected because of the quality of the finished product, the ease of operation, and availability. Faculty were enrolled in a course to work on developing a home page and time lines were established for student orientation and course start date. Faculty involved with creating web-based courses served as editors and assisted in critiquing all courses. As mentioned earlier the first challenge for the research content was to provide an interesting format (structure) for the material to be presented. Flexibility needed to be built in order for the students to meet their individual learning needs. The second challenge was to build into the structure a means for appropriate and meaningful dialogue among all vested parties. Web-based teaching is asynchronous in nature, thereby allowing the student flexibility beyond the constraints of time and space.
Research, as a body of knowledge and a process, lends itself to the virtual classroom environment. For the last three years I have been teaching basic research concepts to RN/BSN students utilizing the computer to both deliver and receive information. This modality was selected for the following reasons (a) the ease of access to the didactic content, as well as examples and resources needed by the student, (b) the ability to offer the flexibility that comes with aschyronous teaching/learning, (c) the potential for the learner to explore individual ways of processing knowledge, and (d) utilization and familiarity with a tool (the computer) that may be utilized to enhance life long learning. The challenge in constructing the course was to provide an interesting format for the material, to assure appropriate dialogue could take place between faculty and student as well as between students, and to evaluate the quality of the course by comparing the results to those of past students utilizing more traditional classroom methods.
Setting up the home page in a manner that maintained the students interest was important. After trying several formats I finally utilized the analogy of travel to a foreign land. At "sign posts" along this verbal journey the student was asked to perform tasks, i.e. write a purpose statement, or was given more information, i.e. click to another web site. Time lines were established within the web page for assignments due with a direct E-mail link to the instructor. Rough drafts of paper work were graded by putting red brackets around the errors and inserting any comments. The faculty promised 48 hour turn around. Before returning E-mail to the student hard copies were made for the course file.
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Evolution of Course Content Evaluation Methods
In the original web-based course traditional evaluation methods were utilized. Exams were multiple choice and proctored in a centralized setting. The next step utilized E-mail to send and receive exams. The format was discussion, and a time line was established for completion and return to the faculty. A sample research chapter was E-mailed to each student with specified questions to answer or potential problems to identify. This method was more satisfactory in assessing an understanding of the process of research. However, it was very labor intensive for the faculty. I am currently working on a seamless knowledge evaluation system in which concepts are introduced, evaluated, and then are built upon for the next concept. This would be embedded in the body of the course. I plan to begin implementation of this system in fall 2000. By making the evaluation system part of the course both student and faculty should benefit.
Results
Over the years the program has evolved from a traditional model, to one day a week classes, to fiberoptic interactive television, to the current modality of web-based courses. These changes have been accomplished with the faculty’s concern for providing a high quality, attainable educational experience for adult learners. The web-based courses have been offered for two years and are currently meeting more student needs, as measured by student evaluations, than the other modalities.
For this population of students (RN/BSN) asynchronous learning utilizing computer technology appears to have more advantages than disadvantages. The course is designed in a manner to provide both a high degree of dialogue and flexible structure. Student evaluations have been very positive (88%). One Hundred Percent of the students have completed the two research courses required with a C or better. All have done either an oral or poster presentation of their research, and at least one group each year has won the Sigma Theta Tau, Zeta Rho award for best undergraduate research project. Many of these students go on to graduate school, where they are successful. Of the students I have been able to track 100% are able to complete a thesis. Their comments on the evaluation have shown the undergraduate research course to be very helpful in understanding this process.
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Summary
Teaching undergraduate research via a web-based course is not only possible but desirable for the RN/BSN student. The results of two years of using this modality have been positive for both students and faculty, although not without challenges. A thorough understanding of distance education theory is necessary in developing and maintaining a successful course over time. In order to be effective the mechanisms for dialogue between student and student, and student and faculty must be built in, and understood by all parties involved. The faculty attention given to maintaining communication is time consuming. However, without this effort the course becomes a glorified correspondence course with E-mail utilized to send paper work. With knowledge and motivation faculty can meet student needs for an asynchronous learning environment and assure quality educational offerings.
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List of References
Bevis, E.O., & Watson, J., Garrison, D.R. (1993). A cognitive constructionist view of distance education: An analysis of teaching-learning assumptions. Distance Education, 14(2), 181-198.
Havice, P.A., & Knowles, M.H. (1995). Two-way interactive video: Maximizing distance learning. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 26(1), 28-30.
Jonassen, D.H. (1995). Supporting communities of learners with technology: A vision for integrating technology with learning in schools. Educational Technology, 35(4), 60-63.
Naisbitt, J. (1994). Global paradox. New York: Avon Books.
National League for Nursing. (1987). Report to the coordination committee on education and practice, National League for Nursing, on educational mobility for nurses. New York: National League for Nursing.
Moore, M.G. (1992). Editorial: Distance education theory. The American Journal of Distance Education, 5(3), 1-6.
Rutherford, L.H., & Grana, S. (1994). Fully activation interactive TV: Creating a blended family. Technological Horizons In Education, 22(3), 86-90.
Toffler, A., & Toffler, H. (1993). War and anti-war: Survival at the dawn of the 21st century. Boston: Little and Brown.
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