Study abroad is most often viewed from a student-centered approach (Afriyie Asenso et al., 2013; Hartman, 2015). The benefits for students studying abroad are well documented in past literature reviews (Browne, Featherstone, & Medigovich, 2015). There remains a significant need for research regarding the perspectives of other stakeholders, including that of faculty members (Browne et al., 2015). There is an urgent call for research related to the evaluation of teaching and learning for diverse populations both at home and abroad, such as how to successfully integrate cultural and global competencies into nursing education (Wilson et al., 2016).
This qualitative, descriptive thesis aimed to address a gap in the literature by describing Canadian nursing faculty members’ perspectives related to successful teaching methods used in study abroad programs. Five nursing faculty members from different institutions in Western Canada participated in semi-structured, recorded, and transcribed telephone interviews during January or February, 2018. Faculty member participants had experiences teaching nursing students in seven different international countries between 2015 and 2017.
The research question guiding the study was, “How do nursing faculty members (who teach students abroad) describe their teaching methods?” Interview questions focused on how faculty members describe the pedagogical approaches they implemented. Participating faculty members were encouraged to speak freely about the topic. The goal was to generate rich, descriptive data that was a collection of nursing faculty members’ perspectives on teaching methods that they utilized while participating in international teaching experiences. The particular focus was teaching methods that they found to be effective.
International nursing placements were found to be associated with required community health nursing, acute care, or final preceptorship nursing courses. Students were in their second, third, or fourth and final year of their nursing programs. One faculty member shared teaching methods used in an interdisciplinary study abroad program that nursing students take as an elective. One of the international placements involved a two-way, reciprocal exchange of students, whereas the remaining six international placements involved one-way movement of students from Canada to the host country. Two primary themes related to teaching abroad emerged from analysis: (1) pedagogical and theoretical underpinnings, and (2) teaching strategies and activities to facilitate students’ learning.
This completed thesis provides a description of Canadian faculty members’ perspectives on teaching methods in study abroad programs for undergraduate nursing students. It focused upon how international placements for nursing students are being successfully designed and carried out. While this research focused on describing teaching methods for undergraduate nursing placements, it also included teaching methods for interdisciplinary, community health promotion and service learning. Teaching abroad is multi-faceted, and occurs in a vast variety of contexts. Findings are to be assessed by interested faculty members for transferability to specific programs. Administrators and leaders of nursing faculties may find the study helpful in reviewing some of the potential benefits of study abroad programs and for increased awareness regarding areas for caution. The research may also be of interest to students who are considering being involved as participants in study abroad programs.
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