Elizabeth Carlson, Mennonite College of Nursing; Sandra D. Burke, Mennonite College of Nursing
In an effort to close the 17-year gap that it takes for research findings to make their way into everyday practice, a new era of health care requires that clinical practice be patient-centered and evidence-based. As the largest sector of any health care system, nurses are a critical focal point for processes and procedures necessary for implementing evidence-based care. Unfortunately, research literature suggests that nurses are poorly prepared to engage in evidence-based practice; uncomfortable with their skill in locating and interpreting systematic reviews or meta-analyzing; lack confidence in formulating clinical questions, finding, sorting, and appraising evidence; and are unable to discriminate between statistical significance and clinical meaningfulness. To overcome these deficits in practice settings, journal clubs are being used successfully to assist nurses with critical appraisal skills. In the spring semester of 2007, the presenters transitioned the classroom pedagogy from didactic to active learning using a journal club format to emphasize problem-based learning through small group activities. The journal club format provided students with the opportunity for discovery, application, synthesis, and evaluation of clinical evidence. Midterm Chat comments show a positive response from student learners suggesting that this approach might be useful for other disciplines as well.
Lori Woeste, Health Sciences; Beverly J. Barham, Health Sciences
The Impact of Students' Preferred Learning Styles On Curriculum Design and Delivery (Woeste - PowerPoint 2007)
Studies indicate that knowing a student's preferred learning style can be helpful in the design and delivery of curricular content. In a five year retrospective analysis of the preferred learning styles of clinical laboratory science students, certain trends have been identified. In addressing these trends, changes in curricular design and delivery have been implemented. Both the data and subsequent changes are in alignment with professionally-based indicators for entry level clinical laboratory scientists. The presentation will discuss the impact this data has had on past and present curricular design and delivery, as well as the challenges anticipated when preparing to meet the needs of diverse student cohorts in the future.
