Paper
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Evidenced-based Practice in Nursing Education: Evaluating Learning Outcomes, Educational Practices, and the Use of Technology in a Web-enhanced Nursing Health Assessment Course
Marcia L. Gasper, EdD, Nursing, East Stroudsburg University, East Stroudsburg, PA, USA
| Learning Objective #1: recognize the benefits of assessing learning outcomes, educational practices, and the use of technology for the purpose of benchmarking in nursing education |
| Learning Objective #2: describe the process of identifying an evaluation question using a triad approach to assessing the use of technology in nursing education |
The purpose of this study was to design, develop, implement and evaluate a web-enhanced nursing health assessment course. The design process itself, as guided by the Dick and Carey Systems Approach Model (1996) the Event-Oriented Model (Welsh, 1996), and the Instructional website design Model (Berry & Olson, 2000) was studied. Strengths and weaknesses of the models are discussed, as well as factors related to choosing a Web Course Development Tool (WCDT), choosing a design model, formulating an evaluation plan, and identifying the role of the course facilitator. Emphasis was placed on formative and summative evaluation. Formative evaluation included expert review, one-to-one evaluation, small group, and field trials. The evaluators were an Instructional Technology Specialist (ITS), a subject-matter expert, faculty, and learners. Data sources included an interview protocol and other tools designed by the author. Content analysis was employed for expert and learner responses to the interview and other evaluation instruments. A course evaluation tool developed from the Flashlight Current Student Inventory (Ehrmann & Zuniga, 1997) was used to assess learning outcomes, educational practices, and the use of technology for the purpose of benchmarking. Reliability and validity measures were applied to this instrument. Learning outcomes examined include: accessibility, application, connectedness, convenience, satisfaction, and socialization. Educational practices examined include: active and engaged learning, cognitive and creative outcomes, feedback, faculty/student interaction, student/student interaction, and time on task. Factors examined related to the use of technology include productive use of time, technology infrastructure, and prerequisites for using technology. Statistical analysis of coded items of the tool included means (reported as benchmarks), t-test, and correlations.