Department of Educational Leadership, Policy & Technology Studies

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A case study of undergraduate nontraditional adult learners' perceptions of hybrid classes
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2017) Chance, Sherry Anne; Major, Claire Howell; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Nontraditional adult students in higher education must balance a multitude of responsibilities while completing their college education. This student population juggles work, family, and college coursework. To maximize options for this student population and meet their needs, institutions of higher education have developed alternative modes of instruction, such as hybrid classes, which use both face-to-face instruction and online instruction. Delivering alternative options for instruction provides the convenience and flexibility that adult students need. However, it requires educators to design courses and create a campus climate that promotes student engagement. Research supports the theory of student engagement as a predictor of student success and degree completion; thus, the hybrid format is intended to facilitate a greater degree of engagement. This case study explored undergraduate nontraditional adult learners’ perceptions of hybrid classes and student engagement in this alternative format. This study drew upon the research literature bases of adult learners, nontraditional students, student engagement, online and hybrid course design, and social presence.
The clinical instructor program: improving self-efficacy for nurse educators
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2016) Weston, Jeannie Bowen; Tomlinson, Stephen; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Clinical teaching is foundational to undergraduate nursing education. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the development and consequent introduction of an online program called the Clinical Instructor Program (CIP) is helpful in improving feelings of efficacy for nurse clinicians who have experience in clinical teaching or who are new to the role of clinical instructor. Toward this purpose, four research questions were addressed: feelings of self-efficacy before and after CIP participation, understanding of the clinical instructor role, knowledge of instructional content, and understanding of instructional strategies. Thirty-five clinical nursing instructors, both experienced and novice took a pretest, the Self-Efficacy Toward Teaching Inventory (SETTI), to measure feelings of efficacy before program participation. Novice instructors had no prior teaching experience; experienced instructors had one year of experience. Participants responded to the same test items after completing the CIP. The CIP modules and SETTI were offered through a web-based system where participants could take the pretest, review the modular series, and respond to the posttest. Both groups demonstrated significant improvement in self-efficacy and understanding of role, validating the CIP as a model for clinical instruction. Experienced instructors showed a more appreciable improvement than did novice instructors in the four areas of self-efficacy, role, understanding of content and understanding of strategies. Overall scores showed that the novice instructor scores improved 89% after CIP participation. The experienced instructors showed a greater improvement of 98% in feelings of efficacy following CIP participation. Although this data does not permit statistical measurement, findings suggest that the CIP has significant value for the education of nurse educators. This claim clearly warrants further study. Further research is needed on how best to modify the CIP to facilitate mentoring, support, and foundational knowledge for the novice instructor.
College experiences for GED students
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2015) Boykin, Coretta Latristaca; Holley, Karri A.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The White House College Completion Agenda encourages higher education institutions to increase the number of students completing an undergraduate degree by the year 2025. Given the external context of economic uncertainty and limited resources, these tasks are daunting for associate's colleges with a history of low retention and completion rates and with an enrollment primarily of non-traditional students. GED students are among the collection of non-traditional students who face challenges of retention and completion in postsecondary education. Over the past decade, this body of students has increased enrollment in two-year associate's colleges. Thus, understanding how GED students experience postsecondary education can increase the retention and completion rates of American college students. The purpose of this dissertation was to understand the experiences of students who completed a GED and then enrolled at a two-year associate's college in the Southeastern region of the United States. Qualitative research methods were carried out by conducting individual interviews and document analysis. This study used qualitative inquiry to address the following research questions grounded in Astin's I-E-O model: 1. How do GED recipients experience the academic demands of an associate's college? 2. What role do student involvement and personal characteristics have in the experiences of GED recipients enrolled in an associate's college? 3. What role does the college environment have in the experiences of GED recipients enrolled in an associate's college? After analyzing the study's data, three themes (Preparedness, Involvement, and Location) and four subthemes (Family, Time, Small Settings and Distractions) developed. In conclusion, the college experience of GED recipients can be improved by enriching academic learning prior to college enrollment and responding to financial, family, and employment obligations.
Evaluating narrative pedagogy in nursing education
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2011) Santo, LaTonya Renee; Gaskins, Susan W.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Conventional teaching approaches centered on covering content are no longer adequate at equipping nursing graduates with the necessary cognitive and affective skills to function in the challenging roles of nursing practice. Nursing educators are adopting new pedagogies, such as Narrative Pedagogy, to better prepare graduates for the ever changing healthcare environment. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of educators who have used Narrative Pedagogy to teach nursing concepts and topics. This study sought to understand how educators evaluated students' learning outcomes following the enactment of Narrative Pedagogy. The research questions were as follows: (1) What are the desired learning outcomes following the enactment of Narrative Pedagogy? and (2) Which evaluation methods and tools are most appropriate to measure student outcomes following the enactment of Narrative Pedagogy? The participants consisted of eight nursing educators from the United States who had recently used Narrative Pedagogy to prepare registered nursing students. Each participant was interviewed initially via phone and asked to send examples of their syllabi, students' narratives, students' assignment submissions, and/or other evaluation tools. After the researcher reviewed the initial interview transcripts and documents, a follow-up phone interview was conducted. Data were analyzed, synthesized, and interpreted using an iterative, nonlinear three phase process using Heideggerian hermeneutics and descriptive statistics. Three major themes, related to evaluating Narrative Pedagogy emerged: (a) determining use of Narrative Pedagogy, (b) enhancing desired student outcomes, and (c) determining evaluation methods and tools. Results should help the pedagogical decisions of educators and initiate or continue dialogue related to nursing education reform among educators, administrators, students, and other stakeholders.
Experiences of successful returner nursing students
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2015) Handwerker, Sarah McCook; Atkinson, Becky M.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The retention of college students in America has become important in light of a steady trend of attrition over the past several decades. With changes to the healthcare system and the currently aging population, the retention of postsecondary nursing students is one specific area that is very important for the health of the nation. This study utilized a qualitative phenomenological approach to explore the lived experiences of success in nursing school within one specific population of nursing students that were at risk for attrition. Findings indicate that the experience of failure, return and subsequent success in nursing school is a very complex journey. Through analysis of participants’ descriptions of this period in their lives nine themes emerged that describe this transformative experience.
Motivational orientations of registered nurses who pursue an advanced education
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2011) Richardson, Rosemary; Stanton, Marietta P.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The purpose of this study was to examine the motivational orientations (intrinsic motivation-to know, intrinsic motivation-toward accomplishment, intrinsic motivation-to experience stimulation, extrinsic motivation-identified, extrinsic motivation-introjected, extrinsic motivation-external regulation, and amotivation) of registered nurses who pursued a graduate degree. In addition, the study looked at the differences in demographic characteristics (age, income, and years of experience) and psychological needs (competence, relatedness, and autonomy). Lastly, it looked at the relationship between motivational orientations and psychological needs. The research problem included the following four questions: 1) are there differences between the motivational orientations of registered nurses who seek a master's versus those who seek a doctorate; 2) are there differences in demographic characteristics of those nurses pursuing a master's degree versus a doctoral degree; 3) are there differences in the psychological needs identified between those pursuing a master's versus a doctoral degree; and 4) is there a relationship between the types of motivational orientation and psychological needs? Results indicated no statistical differences in the motivational orientations reported by registered nurses who pursued a doctoral or master's degree. Registered nurses seeking a master's or doctoral degree scored the highest on intrinsic motivation-to know, extrinsic motivation-identified second, and third on intrinsic motivation-toward accomplishment. There were no significant differences in the three demographic characteristics self-reported by the nurses pursuing a master's degree or doctoral degree. Results revealed that there were no significant differences in the three psychological needs for these nurses. Results also revealed that there was a significant correlation between both extrinsic motivation-introjected and intrinsic motivation-experience stimulation to autonomy. In addition, there was a significant correlation between both extrinsic motivation-introjected and intrinsic motivation-experience stimulation and relatedness. Lastly, there was a significant correlation between intrinsic motivation-to know and competence.
Theory-based post -simulation debriefing: perceived effectiveness of debriefing and transfer of learning
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2019) Colvin, Natasha Renee; March, Alice L.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Background Nurse educators have an obligation to ensure that students learn, develop, and apply higher-order cognitive skills. New graduates are expected to practice at a higher performance level in order to care for more complex patients, yet barriers to clinical education, such as securing clinical sites, have made it difficult for nurse educators to provide a variety of learning experiences. Many nursing faculty are either supplementing or replacing clinical experiences with simulation-based training with the goal of students transferring the knowledge and skills learned in the laboratory setting to the “real” patient care environment. Significance Debriefing has been recognized as the most significant component of a simulated learning experience (Shinnick, Woo, Horwich, & Steadman, 2011; Forneris, 2015). Little is known regarding the effectiveness of debriefing strategies, and so the evaluation of debriefing is critical to ensure learning outcomes and students’ transfer of learning. Specifically, the evaluation of the debriefer’s effectiveness in engaging students during a structured, theory-based debriefing is critical, as the practice of debriefing methods broadens throughout nursing curriculum (Shinnick et al., 2011; Forneris, 2015). Methods A quasi-experimental, post-test-only control-group design was utilized to examine how non-theory-based debriefing compared to theory-based debriefing on students perceptions of the debriefing effectiveness and their transfer of learning following a high-fidelity simulation. Results Frequencies and percentages, independent t-tests, and Pearson product-moment correlation were applied to the data set. The study results did not show a statistically significance difference between the theory-based versus non-theory based learning groups. Additional data analysis demonstrated a statistically significant negative correlation in age and transfer of learning. Further, there was a statistically significant positive correlation between DASH-SV and LTT total score. Conclusions Further research is needed on a larger representation of nursing students. Ideally, transfer of learning and students perceptions of debriefing effectiveness should be evaluated with a more diverse, nationally representative sample of nursing students. Additionally, future research should also examine additional predictors and factors that could influence transfer of learning, For example, sex, type of nursing program, and semester level of the nursing student. j

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Browsing Department of Educational Leadership, Policy & Technology Studies by Subject "Adult education"

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