Baby Boy Jones: Using Technology to Engage Undergraduate Nursing Students in a Case-Based Learning Activity

Purpose: Case-based learning activities (CBLA’s) are an effective strategy for teaching clinical reasoning and decision-making skills in the health sciences. Baby Boy Jones, our prototype CBLA focused on newborn infection, is an interactive, unfolding case scenario within the context of interprofessional care, deployed as a web-based independent learning activity. The purpose of this presentation is to describe the develpment of this CBLA, discuss learning outcomes and student attitudes as well as our plans for continued development of this project.

Methods: The CBLA, situated in the undergraduate maternal-newborn nursing course, was designed using SoftChalk® e-learning, authoring software and delivered using the Blackboard learning management system. Content addressing learning objectives was presented using branching decision points, immediate feedback, opportunities for reflection, and formative assessment. Identical pre/post-activity assessments were used to measure learning outcomes and a survey was used to measure attitudes.

 Results: Students (N=342) participated in the Baby Boy Jones CBLA; 315 completed all 10 items of the pre and post-activity assessments. Findings revealed a statistically significant difference in their scores (z=-11.03, p<.001) indicating that students performed better on the post assessment. In addition, 195 students responded to the attitude survey. Results showed that students agreed the CBLA was relevant to their learning needs for the course (94%) and focused on the learning objectives (95%). They also felt the activity incorporated decision-making and feedback (92%) and was visually compelling and thought provoking (85%). Students agreed the activity reflected current theory and evidence-based practice (96%) and they learned content more effectively for transfer to the clinical setting using this method of instruction (82%). Lastly, following the activity, students felt more capable of identifying an infant at risk for developing infection and more capable of providing nursing care for that infant (86%).

 Conclusion: The Baby Boy Jones CBLA is an example of innovation in nursing education demonstrating student achievement of learning objectives and a high degree of student satisfaction. Continued exploration of this method of instruction in nursing and other health professions education is strongly encouraged.