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NURS 170: Foundations for Evidence-Based Nursing Practice

Syllabus Reconnaissance | Reciprocal Interview

Reflection on Instructional Change:

I implemented both the reciprocal interview and the syllabus reconnaissance activities during the first Zoom class session. The course is mostly online and asynchronous with a few synchronous Zoom sessions. Hence, I wanted to make sure that students were fully oriented to the course and expectations. To accomplish these goals, I used lessons learned from ACUE and created a Jamboard activity as shown in the image below. Students were randomly placed into breakout rooms of 3-4 students per room and worked on the activity together. After students completed the activity in their breakout rooms, they returned to the main room, and we reviewed comments and questions together. I used this time to also answer questions as part of the reciprocal interview activity.

I believe these activities empowered my students to be active agents of their own learning. The course orientation was not just a one direction experience where I tell students what to do. Students were given the opportunity to review important assignments and course expectations on their own, with each other, and with me. The open dialogue allowed free flowing questions and concerns that permitted students to receive clarification from me in real time. It also allowed me to learn about areas that may be causing anxiety for my students, and the opportunity for me to address and hopefully minimize concerns. The power dynamic is also lessened as both instructor and students are accountable to each other. I also believe that these activities demonstrated recognition that my students are working registered nurses and need the opportunity and space to connect the course objectives with their professional career.

I found all the ACUE course activities to be effective for my learning. The mix of videos and reference materials were supportive in learning the materials and reflecting on how I can implement these strategies in my own course. The observe and analyze videos helped me to critically consider effective strategies and ways that instructors in the videos can improve. It's helpful to see best practices being demonstrated and, more importantly, the rationale and evidence behind these practices.

I learned a lot from my own Observe and Analyze activity with my peers. The feedback was mostly positive with comments about the active engagement of the exercise and my discussion about the "ground rules" of my class. I learned from ACUE that it is okay to call on students who do not volunteer to answer questions during class sessions; however, it's important to let students know in advance that I may do this as part of class expectations. As part of my syllabus reconnaissance activity, I weaved in this ground rule with my students so that they come to class more prepared knowing that they may be called upon to answer questions or make comments. One area that I could do better was allowing more time for students to respond. I noticed that I was quick to respond to a student's question when it appeared that she did not finish asking her question. I will make a more concerted effort to slow down in responding to be sure that my students have expressed all their thoughts without being interrupted.

Evidence of Instructional Change

Practice and Reflect on Ensuring Equitable Access to Learning:

An activity that I plan to implement is the prognosis survey to let students assess their own learning habits and behaviors and what they need to do to achieve success in my course. I currently teach a research course that does not use a traditional textbook. I use open resources, but I often wonder if students actually read them as some students still do not understand certain concepts several weeks into the semester. This has been a frustrating point for me, but I then realized that my students probably need more support and a way to reflect on how course activities connect to the course objectives. I don't think just saying it is enough. I need to engage them in this process. I will include the prognosis survey in my Start Here module as part of a required activity.

The impact on students will be that they will be able to know right up front the expectations and the commitment they need to have in order to be successful. This will help my students plan their time and learn some strategies that will help them stay focused and be successful. The survey itself cues students on behavioral expectations. I like the Skeleton note idea and would like to incorporate that into my modules so help students with learning materials.

One area that I currently do is the "nongraded" assignment. I do grade them as participation, but I could improve by incorporating more of these activities during our synchronous sessions. One activity I did during f2f was to have them grade an anonymous paper using the rubric. I think this may be useful during the synchronous session on Zoom as it will permit us to discuss as a class on what areas that the paper addressed the requirements and where it can improve. I find students do like real examples from other students.

Course Syllabus:

NURS 170 syllabus

Faculty Bio:

Michelle playing petanque

I am Professor in the School of Nursing and currently teach research, community health, and human sexuality. I also co-lead the quality assurance team at Sac State and support colleagues in improving their online and hybrid courses to meet best practices and national standards. I play pétanque during my free time.

Acknowledgements
	This work was supported by: National Science Foundation Hispanic Serving Institution Project STEM Zone DUE 1832335 CSU Office of the Chancellor Academic Affairs grant for Faculty Professional Development US Department of Education Hispanic Serving Institution Project STEM4Equity P031C210012 *Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or the US Department of Education.