This will be my final blog post as the outgoing EKM Scholar at the UBC School of Nursing, as my time in this role has come to an end. It has been a fantastic two years of activity, and many thanks for all the contributions by faculty and students to all the journal clubs, workshops and forums we have held, that have made all of these events excellent. I am confident we have the development of a strong scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) community of practice underway. We have also managed to support a wide variety of student and faculty SoTL research and professional dissemination projects over the last two years.
Watch this space for an announcement regarding the new EKM Scholarship holder, and her forthcoming work in the New Year. I wish everyone a relaxing seasonal break, and Happy New Year to come.
There will be a short interactive demonstration on how to use the Polleverywhere and Snagit tools facilitated by Lucas Wright from The UBC Centre for Teaching and Learning Technology on Wednesday July 30th from 11-11:30 in Room T 182 at the UBC School of Nursing. These tools are both freely available to teachers at the School of Nursing.
All welcome!
To access Snagit (and Camtasia) go to the “Resources” tab once logged into Connect. You will be provided a link to download the product(s), as well as a license key. If the software is upgraded, the new license key will be available in the same location.
For PollEverywhere all faculty and instructors were sent an invite to use the School account last year. Accepting the invitation gives you the login details. If you would like to use and don’t have access to that email please do send me an email to get a fresh invitation sent.
Park, Park and Jang describe their work examining the magnitude and predictors of cheating in South Korean nursing Schools. They surveyed 650 nursing students from 5 institutions using a validated survey instrument. Those present were asked if they thought nursing students were as honest as other students or more or less so. The group unanimously thought there was so significant difference.
The five fundamental aspects of academic integrity outlined by Gaberson (1997) were discussed: honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. These were agreed as a useful set of aspects to define the issue.The researchers also suggested the concern that those who are academically dishonest are likely to repeat these behaviours in practice. However, those present did not feel this was a black and white issue. Most felt that nursing students who cheated academically would not necessarily be likely to engage in deceitful or dishonest practices in clinical practice if patient safety was at stake.
A range of justifications (neutralization or normalization behaviours)for academic dishonesty had been observed by faculty including the key ones identified in this paper, such as: “everyone does it,” “I don’t have time” and “I need to maintain my GPA”.
The researchers used four categories for academic dishonesty:
Cheating – outroight cheating activities (such as sneaking in notes to an exam)Fabrication – making up results/bibleographies
Plagiarism – citing others work unattributed
Facilitation – allowing others to cheat
These catagories were found useful, but some felyt that cheating was a rather broad category and did not necessarily discern more detailed aspects such as syndication.
Overall the researchers found that:
50% of students had engaged in one or more exam cheating behaviours,
78% of students had engaged in one or more assignment cheating behaviours.
Those present felt that similar results would likely be found here, although the last Canadian study referenced found a reported 58% of students engaged in academic dishonesty (McCabe, 2009). Overall the group felt this was a well conceived study, although the reporting of results was a little confusing in the paper. They agreed with the authors recomendations that both policing and positive strategies may help reduce academic dishonesty. The key reasons for cheating identified were:
Higher GPA
Lack of time
Need a better job
… and factors that were felt most likely to curtail cheating activities were:
A fair response by University (policies and actions)
increased surveillance ( exams and in assignments)
Altering test environment ( random seating in exams)
Balancing assessment strategies to give a reasonable workload
Lastly, the group felt that emphasising the nature of academic dishonesty early in the program and asking students to sign up to a voluntary code of academic conduct (to emphasise the issue) might be helpful. It was noted that in some institutions students have to sign a declaration that their work is their own and they have not engaged in any academic dishonesty in the production of it, when they hand in asignments and examination papers. Whilst these measures probably do not stop cheating, they may decrease it by making students more concious of the issues.
We held a productive EKM workshop yesterday to explore some practical techniques for implementing flexible learning practices into courses, and how to evaluate them.
Flexible learning is described as:
A way that meets the needs of the learner, aligns with the nature and requirements of the discipline, and uses the expertise of the instructor all to best effect
Logistical flexibility – flexibility of location, time, pace of learning, and credentialing
Pedagogical flexibility – flexibility of delivery, interaction, and media of instruction
Techniques may include the use of:
The Flipped Classroom
A heuristic pedagogic strategy where students watch lectures or access resources at home online at their own pace, actively communicating with peers and teachers online to explore and develop understanding, and concept development and engagement occurs in the classroom
Image Credit: User Generated Education
Asynchronous and Synchronous Techniques
Asynchronous
Posting Videos/Podcasts/Audio & follow up – Kaltura Discussion board activities Record and post a Pecha Kucha
Synchronous
Webinar – Connect Collaborate
Live Tutorial Chat – Q & A
Social Media Activities
Some of these can be done in a secure Connect environment
Blog Activities –
Post a question as a blog post and get students to respond individually or in groups (they must reach a consensus) with a solution
Wiki Activities –
Ask students to collaborate on a wiki post to solve a problem
Ask students to create, edit or update a Wikipedia entry
We also explored evaluation methods and the Kirkpatrick evaluation framework we will be using in our Flexible Learning project this coming year.
The slides associated with the workhop can be found at the following link:
This forthcoming workshop may be of interest as citation management is becoming ever more complex. I have used several over the years and found the Mendeley software (which is free) is one of the best designed and most intuitive applications for doing this. It supports drag and drop of pdfs of papers, group-working with a citation personal database, and you can import your old Refworks (or other) citation databases. See http://www.mendeley.com/
This could just make your educational scholarship activities (or other research) that little bit easier.
Bernie
See:
Citation Management Using Mendeley
Monday, February 3rd, 2014 at 3:00PM – 5:00PM
Wednesday, April 9th, 2014 at 10:00AM – 12:00PM
If you need to manage large numbers of references and citations as part of your research, teaching or administrative work, citation management tools are for you. These tools provide a simple way to store, organize and retrieve your citations in an effective manner, and can also help you in formatting in-text citations and bibliographies in your work. This hands-on workshop introduces briefly the main concepts of citation management and gives detailed instruction for installing and using Mendeley, one of the most popular citation management tools.
Many people have been asking me where they can learn more about the Flexible Learning Initiative and I’m pleased to say that, as a first step, the website www.flexible.learning.ubc.ca is now live. The site has information about:
the objectives of the initiative (‘What is it” tab has menus for goals, priorities, approach);
the evidence for impact of blended class transformations;
examples of what’s already happening at UBC (Showcase); and
links to media stories relative to blended classes, MOOCs, technology and post-secondary education – updated weekly.
The website notes that the first funding opportunity is for the (re)design of undergraduate classes and has a link to the short online form calling for interested members of the UBC Vancouver community to submit Letters of Intent if they are interested in support for (re)design of their undergraduate courses, or other activities that support the goals of the Flexible Learning Initiative. Proposals will be ranked and reviewed by Faculty Deans (and the VP Students for student initiatives) and then prioritized by a campus wide adjudication team. The form is short as we want to encourage applications and we know the deadline (Monday, May 13) is not far away. We will work with successful applicants to develop a budget and more detailed specification of what support is needed and the extent of (re)design. Examples of support that is available include funding for TAs or teaching release, instructional designers, curriculum and assessment support, videography, and IT support. (There will be further funding opportunities for undergraduate and other initiatives in Fall 2013.)
Questions about the Initiative or the LOI can be sent to flexible.learning@ubc.ca. Answers to such questions (if generally applicable) will be posted on the FAQ section of the website, so that is a good place to check to see if your question has already been answered. Equally I am happy to come and speak to departments or groups that would like further information about either.
Finally, this is an invitation to attend the workshop on ‘What Flexible Learning Looks Like’ on Wednesday, May 8 (you can find more information and register here). Faculty and students will share examples of work being done in the area of Flexible Learning across campus. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions of the Flexible Learning Implementation Team and to discuss the support available for course redesign. Professor Toope will also speak at the event.
Angela Redish Vice Provost and Associate Vice-President Enrolment and Academic Facilities Professor of Economics
The second EKM Journal Club took place this Tuesday April 23rd examining spirituality in nursing education. Attending faculty engaged in a thoughtful discussion about how spiritual care education is incorporated into the current curriculum at the UBC School of Nursing.
This months paper:
McSherry W., Gretton M, Draper P, & Watson R. (2008) The ethical basis of teaching spirituality and spiritual care: A survey of student nurses perceptions. Nurse Education Today 28(8) 1002-8
…is available from here within UBC or here using EZProxy outside the University.
In the article the authors examine pre-registration nursing students’ perceptions on spiritual care education. They find that students were divided on the meaning or definition of spirituality. The authors delineate spirituality into two perspectives: a secular existentialist perspective, and a perspective from religiosity. The authors suggest that the “majority [of students surveyed] felt it was wrong for spirituality to imply that some people are better than others” (McSherry, 2008). I
The discussion went as follows, and please join in the discussion with your thoughts (simply click “Leave a Reply” at the end of the post.
The faculty agreed that although this delineation is useful to frame the idea of spirituality, it also narrows it in possibly an-oversimplistic manner. For example, even the existentialist perspective described here does not differentiate views that accept a separation of “spirit” from body and those that don’t (i.e. the mind–body problem/Cartesian dualism ).
The Canadian Nursing Association defines spirituality from a more existentialist perspective as “whatever or whoever gives ultimate meaning and purpose in one’s life, that invites particular ways of being in the world in relation to others, oneself and the universe”. The group agreed that attempting to define spirituality is a value laden process, but realized it is useful to have a common consensus in a definition of spirituality throughout the School of Nursing if we hope to teach to it. In realizing the immense challenge of agreeing on a common definition, we asked, how do we best teach something that has no consensus of agreed definition? The group felt that an open acknowledgement of the different perspectives, and an exploratory non-judgmental approach considering how nurses can meet patient’s spiritual needs would likely be the most effective.
Currently spiritual care education is woven throughout the undergraduate curriculum in the first semester in various thread classes in Relational Practice and those that consider ethics. The group considered that perhaps we do not need to improve the quality of spiritual care education so much, but rather the degree and ensure the content is explicitly addressed.
The trend towards an increased focus on spiritual care education was compared to that of the interprofessional education, although it was noted there is rather a dearth of nursing research in this area.
The group considered, Are UBC students prepared to assist clients in their spiritual needs to a dignified death, and can we improve our spiritual care education? It is necessary to give students the skills they need to effectively assist clients through challenging life transitions.
Noting the sensitivities and challenges around this topic, perhaps “end of life curriculum” manages to address student’s educational needs without tackling the enigmatic and at times thorny issues of spirituality and religion. Teachings about cultural safety, empathetic listening all support teaching of spiritual care. The journal group came to the conclusion that this would be an area worthy of further consideration by the Undergraduate Program and Policy Committee and maybe a student survey along similar lines to that explored in the paper would be useful here.
The recent debate in the media on the private Christian Trinity Western University and it’s attempt to get a Law School approved, and opposition by the Canadian Council of Law Dean’s (CCLD) to a Christian law program also sparked some interest in this subject by the group. This BC University already has a nursing program (and so UTW students and faculty sign a Community Covenant Agreement that has caused the concern of the CCLD).
With this in mind, using a web poll we asked the rather challenging question: Should institutions that promote a single spiritual basis, one that identifies specific practices as right or wrong, be approved to provide generalist RN education for the Canadian public healthcare system? You can participate in this poll at the end of the post.
It was noted the CNA’s position statement on spirituality, health and nursing practice states that “when providing care, nurses do not discriminate on the basis of an individual’s spiritual beliefs” but it goes no further to explain how School’s should approach providing such spiritual care education. However, the question of whether the TWU approach was discriminatory arose, and seemed an area of concern.
At the present moment, CRNBC specific spiritual care accreditation requirements are somewhat vague, but the group were surprised that this issue had not come up upon the prior accreditation of the TWU nursing program by the CRNBC in a similar fashion to the current concerns expressed by the CCLD .
Appraisal of the Paper
Overall, the article earned an average to good rating from the audience. The authors were commended on the originality and attempt to explore these complex issues. The methodology was a little unclear, particularly the validity of the tool used to appraise student beliefs. Overall this work was felt to be a very useful contribution to the knowledge in this area.
Our upcoming workshop on May 7th will focus on interactive technologies to support classroom polling and will include a demonstration and tutorial on PollEverywhere. Bring your laptops or smartphones! The workshop will take place at 12:00pm in room T206. Please RSVP to Allana at allana.hearn@alumni.ubc.ca
As the academic term is coming to an end, we would like to bring you attention to some selected teaching and learning workshops offered at the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT). Click on the link below for more information and to register:
If you have any questions regarding our workshops and/or would like to make appointment to chat about your teaching, please do not hesitate to contact one of the educational developers at CTLT, myself included. We love to learn about how you teach in your classes.
With warmest regards,
Judy
Judy C. K. Chan, PhD, Educational Developer
Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology
As any people are tied up with BSN admissions interviews of other matters here this week (RSVPs were low, and we have had a few cancelations) we have decided to reschedule tomorrow’s Journal Club. We will now hold it on the 23rd of April at 12:00 in room T206 (next week, same time, same place).
Apologies for any inconvenience, and hope to see you there. Please RSVP as usual to Allana Hearn (allana.hearn@alumni.ubc.ca ).
Following on from our last successful JC meeting, here is the next paper which we will be discussing on April the 16th 12:00 in room T206 at the School of Nursing.
The recent debate in the media on the private Christian Trinity Western University and it’s attempt to get a Law School approved, and opposition by the Canadian Council of Law Dean’s to a Christian law program has sparked some interest. This BC University already has a nursing program (and so UTW students and faculty sign the same Community Covenant Agreement that has caused the concern of the CCLD). Overall there is a dearth in contemporary nursing education literature on work regarding secular vs. religious nursing education, but a member of the JC has suggested in this vein the following paper on spiritual care education would be worth exploring. So this month the paper is:
McSherry W., Gretton M, Draper P, & Watson R. (2008) The ethical basis of teaching spirituality and spiritual care: A survey of student nurses perceptions. Nurse Education Today 28(8) 1002-8
You can download it from here within UBC or here using EZProxy outside the University
We look forward to seeing you at the journal club, and don’t forget to RSVP to Allana Hearn (allana.hearn@nursing.ubc.ca) if you are coming so she can order appropriate refreshments.
We are kicking off our new Journal Club, as a part of the Elizabeth Kenny McCann (EKM) Educational Scholarship activities this year. All faculty and students are welcome. The first one will be on March the 19th between 12:00 and 12:50 in room T206 at the School of Nursing. Everyone is welcome and there will be refreshments, but bring your own lunch. If you haven’t experienced a journal club before the format is pretty straightforward. Each month we will select a paper for discussion that will be forwarded to all two weeks before the meeting. At the meeting we will discuss the merits (or otherwise) of the ideas expressed in the paper, and their implications for our educational practice.
At the first meeting we will discuss the thorny issue of the use of Wikipedia as a source in academic writing. The paper I have selected is the following and is available full-text from the UBC library:
Haigh C.A. (2011) Wikipedia as an evidence source for nursing and healthcare students. Nurse Education Today, 31 (2) 135–13
If you are coming to the journal club (or can’t make it, but wish to join the club) please e-mail our Journal Club Coordinator, Allana Hearn (allana.hearn@alumni.ubc.ca) so we have a sense of numbers and can order appropriate coffee and cookies! We will be following up the discussion on our new blog (see below), so, even if you can’t attend, but have something you would like to add to the discussion, you can.
Welcome to the UBC School of Nursing Teaching & Learning Scholarship blog. This site is supported by the Elizabeth Kenny McCann Teaching and Learning Scholarship fund. The purpose of this blog site is to promote the scholarship of teaching and learning in nursing and health professional education. The blog will be used to follow monthly discussions of the School’s Education Journal Club, which meets on the third Tuesday each month at lunchtime (12:00-13:00) at the School (located on the 3rd Floor of UBC Hospital). Refreshments are provided, and stimulating discussion is guaranteed!
We are fairly informal, and welcome new members including faculty from other disciplines and students (follow us by your favourite social media linked at the top right, or just click on the register link on the bottom right to join).
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me (click on my name to e-mail me),
