Friday, July 15, 2011: 4:25 PM
Sue Butell, MSN
Department of Nursing, Linfield Good Samaritan School of Nursing, Portland, OR
Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to describe the research process used in evaluating immediate and post graduation outcomes from a book group assignment.
Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to describe the benefits of offering a book group assignment to senior nursing students in a global health course.
This poster presentation, targeted toward nurse educators, describes the process of evaluating reading habits of graduates following a book group assignment in their senior global health course. The purpose of the study was to survey students over time as to their reading preferences, attitudes toward book discussion groups and their response to the book group process. This research describes the process of evaluating the immediate and post graduation outcomes from a previously reported book group teaching strategy (Butell S., O'Donovan P., Taylor J. (2004). Instilling the value of reading literature through student-led book discussion groups. Journal of Nursing Education 43(1),40-44). Quantitative findings revealed that at six months, the appeal of reading professional literature and of participating in a book group continued at statistically significant levels. Findings also indicated that book group participation had been a profoundly positive experience. Quantitative findings revealed that participants remained overwhelmingly positive about the book group experience. The novelty of the assignment offered a change of pace, a chance to expand their minds, and a chance to experience belonging to a group. A limitation of the study was that it used a non-random convenience sample rather than a randomly selected one. While the response rate was good, whether the sample was truly representative for a group of graduating seniors was questionable.
Offering a pleasurable and stimulating book group assignment in a senior course serves many purposes, such as reading a non-text book without guilt, providing a positive social experience, and instilling the liberal arts value of reading for lifelong learning. Modeling a book group format by a faculty of readers also provides students with an experience that could foster their future professional development. Implications for faculty include the enticement to stay current with literature relevant to the assignment and the promotion of intellectual enrichment and conversation.
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