Core Competency 2: Creating Effective Learning Environment
Description of Competency
Core Competency 2 focuses on creating effective learning environments, promoting student success, and developing inclusive learning spaces. The nursing profession was challenged to reconsider education and educational environments in the 2009 publication entitled “Educating nurses: A call for radical transformation.” The book suggested that nursing educators make four shifts in their thinking about teaching and student learning. These four shifts include:
Provide an artifact and artifact rationale
To develop this competency, I watched a webinar entitled “Innovative Pedagogies to Engage Learners: A Flipped Classroom Approach.” This webinar was selected since the flipped classroom is a popular method used within nursing programs. I was interested in learning more about this approach and how it was implemented in a school of nursing. In addition, I watched a presentation on backward design and read about.
Innovative Pedagogies to Engage Learners: A Flipped Classroom Approach
Aired on October 20, 2015
This Webinar focuses on the use of innovative pedagogies to engage learners. Strategies such as a flipped classroom model, which involve using technology to change the structure of the lecture and laboratory class, will be discussed. This Webinar will provide insight into how a flipped classroom model can be implemented into a curriculum, how outside-of-class material can be created, and student perception of the flipped classroom experience.
http://www.aacnnursing.org/Professional-Development/Webinar-Info/sessionaltcd/WFR15_10_20
What is backward design?
Cori Fata-Hartley, Assistant Dean, College of Natural Science at Michigan State, provided an overview of backward design at the 2013 Preparing Future Faculty to Assess Student Learning Spring Institute.
http://bit.ly/MSUTAPBackwardDesign
Cultivating an Inclusive Classroom
Melissa McDaniels, Assistant Dean and Director of the Teaching Assistant Programs at the Graduate School at Michigan State University, provided an overview of cultivating an inclusive classroom.
http://insideteaching.grad.msu.edu/cultivating-an-inclusive-classroom-inclusive-curriculum-design/
https://careersuccess.msu.edu/sites/default/files/INCLUSIVE%20TEACHING%202013%20FINAL.pdf
Interpret/reflect on learning
What skills and techniques did I learn that will help me become a better educator?
I learned that using a flipped classroom approach (also known as reverse instruction model) can enable programs to elevate student learning outcomes since students come to class prepared. Various methods can be used to hold students accountable for pre-class activities such as including questions as a small part of the grade. Since students are unable to ask questions during the pre-class learning activities, students can be asked to write down questions and bring them to class. Then, class can begin by answering questions. The flipped classroom does not work in every situation and should be viewed as one tool for increasing student engagement.
Some best practices for flipping include:
The presentations made me realize that designing and developing an effective learning environment is a multifaced environment. It involves beginning with a backwards design process to determine desired outcomes and using creative methods to engage students in active learning. Yet, within all this preparing not forgetting about inclusivity of learning styles, culture, age, gender, just to name a few. Creating an effective learning environment is an ongoing process for novice and experienced educator alike.
What things am I still uncertain about regarding this topic that I need to investigate further in the future?
A challenge in nursing education is the trend to introduce additional content into the courses. The webinar presentation that I watched introduced an exemplar case from one school of nursing. In the example, students who were previously assigned hundreds of pages to read were now (after flipped classroom implementation) assigned a 30-45 minute presentation and reduced readings. Based on personal conversations, I believe that this is not the norm. Most schools just assign powerpoint presentations on top of already high reading loads. I would like to learn more about assigning courses credit hours, how credit hours are assigned in nursing courses, and how professors can be more intentional about assessing workload.
How can I apply materials from this session to my own class to enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning?
To improve the effectiveness of teaching, I am going to design my lessons based on backward design. This is a concept not only introduced in these webinars and presentations but also in my discipline-specific courses. During my classroom observations, I will consider the classroom inclusivity by examining instructor-student observations and presentation content. I will also reflect on the inclusivity of my lesson both before and after the class.
I will not directly implement a flipped classroom approach since I am participating in a course that is not my own. However, I will seek to implement active learning strategies within my lessons. Ideas to make the classroom more engaging, as presented in the webinar, are included below.
Ways to make lessons more engaging
Core Competency 2 focuses on creating effective learning environments, promoting student success, and developing inclusive learning spaces. The nursing profession was challenged to reconsider education and educational environments in the 2009 publication entitled “Educating nurses: A call for radical transformation.” The book suggested that nursing educators make four shifts in their thinking about teaching and student learning. These four shifts include:
- From a focus on covering decontextualized knowledge to an emphasis on teaching for a sense of salience, situated cognition and action in particular situations.
- From a sharp separation of clinical and classroom teaching to an integration of the two
- From an emphasis on critical thinking to an emphasis on clinical reasoning and multiple ways of thinking
- From an emphasis on socialization and role-taking to an emphasis on formation.
Provide an artifact and artifact rationale
To develop this competency, I watched a webinar entitled “Innovative Pedagogies to Engage Learners: A Flipped Classroom Approach.” This webinar was selected since the flipped classroom is a popular method used within nursing programs. I was interested in learning more about this approach and how it was implemented in a school of nursing. In addition, I watched a presentation on backward design and read about.
Innovative Pedagogies to Engage Learners: A Flipped Classroom Approach
Aired on October 20, 2015
This Webinar focuses on the use of innovative pedagogies to engage learners. Strategies such as a flipped classroom model, which involve using technology to change the structure of the lecture and laboratory class, will be discussed. This Webinar will provide insight into how a flipped classroom model can be implemented into a curriculum, how outside-of-class material can be created, and student perception of the flipped classroom experience.
http://www.aacnnursing.org/Professional-Development/Webinar-Info/sessionaltcd/WFR15_10_20
What is backward design?
Cori Fata-Hartley, Assistant Dean, College of Natural Science at Michigan State, provided an overview of backward design at the 2013 Preparing Future Faculty to Assess Student Learning Spring Institute.
http://bit.ly/MSUTAPBackwardDesign
Cultivating an Inclusive Classroom
Melissa McDaniels, Assistant Dean and Director of the Teaching Assistant Programs at the Graduate School at Michigan State University, provided an overview of cultivating an inclusive classroom.
http://insideteaching.grad.msu.edu/cultivating-an-inclusive-classroom-inclusive-curriculum-design/
https://careersuccess.msu.edu/sites/default/files/INCLUSIVE%20TEACHING%202013%20FINAL.pdf
Interpret/reflect on learning
What skills and techniques did I learn that will help me become a better educator?
I learned that using a flipped classroom approach (also known as reverse instruction model) can enable programs to elevate student learning outcomes since students come to class prepared. Various methods can be used to hold students accountable for pre-class activities such as including questions as a small part of the grade. Since students are unable to ask questions during the pre-class learning activities, students can be asked to write down questions and bring them to class. Then, class can begin by answering questions. The flipped classroom does not work in every situation and should be viewed as one tool for increasing student engagement.
Some best practices for flipping include:
- Use existing technology to easy faculty and students
- Keep videos and pre-class materials short (30-45 minutes)
- Don’t try to do too much at once
- Consider student accountability (didn’t get completed without set of questions)
The presentations made me realize that designing and developing an effective learning environment is a multifaced environment. It involves beginning with a backwards design process to determine desired outcomes and using creative methods to engage students in active learning. Yet, within all this preparing not forgetting about inclusivity of learning styles, culture, age, gender, just to name a few. Creating an effective learning environment is an ongoing process for novice and experienced educator alike.
What things am I still uncertain about regarding this topic that I need to investigate further in the future?
A challenge in nursing education is the trend to introduce additional content into the courses. The webinar presentation that I watched introduced an exemplar case from one school of nursing. In the example, students who were previously assigned hundreds of pages to read were now (after flipped classroom implementation) assigned a 30-45 minute presentation and reduced readings. Based on personal conversations, I believe that this is not the norm. Most schools just assign powerpoint presentations on top of already high reading loads. I would like to learn more about assigning courses credit hours, how credit hours are assigned in nursing courses, and how professors can be more intentional about assessing workload.
How can I apply materials from this session to my own class to enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning?
To improve the effectiveness of teaching, I am going to design my lessons based on backward design. This is a concept not only introduced in these webinars and presentations but also in my discipline-specific courses. During my classroom observations, I will consider the classroom inclusivity by examining instructor-student observations and presentation content. I will also reflect on the inclusivity of my lesson both before and after the class.
I will not directly implement a flipped classroom approach since I am participating in a course that is not my own. However, I will seek to implement active learning strategies within my lessons. Ideas to make the classroom more engaging, as presented in the webinar, are included below.
Ways to make lessons more engaging
- Collaborative simulations: low-fidelity simulation experience in which 2 students are in the simulation room and can communicate to students in classroom (who provided recommendations and suggestions) with a webcam and skype. The simulation ‘scene’ occurs for 10-15 minutes. Then the initial 2 students return and the instructor moderates a debriefing with the entire class covering: priority patient problems, selecting interventions, which assessments necessary to determine effectiveness, and other complications. Then 2 different students go to the simulation room and the experience continues in this rotating manner.
- Group illustration: illustrate an assigned oncologic emergency using pictures to describe the emergency’s etiology, clinical manifestations, treatments, and anything else that is relevant without using words. Pre-class work required researching emergency and thinking about how to illustrate. Groups of 4-5 students. Artwork displayed during the exam. Also, reflected on the experience of art therapy for cancer patients.
- Reverse case study: students provided with a list of medications and students needed to create a concept map for the patient who had these medications. Students needed to determine diagnosis and comorbidities, side effects, and likely lab data. Think about how medications were linked to each other.
- Gaming and audience response: knowledge testing.
- Creating teaching plans and group presentations: students able to use ipads to create presentations and use health-related apps and websites. See: educreations.com