Innovation
A variety of teaching and learning strategies have been created to enable postgraduate students to learn research methods, ethics and governance issues. They include a Virtual/Ethics committee, a Research clinic, Masterclasses and a Journal club.
What prompted innovation?
The development of a new MSc Nursing at Teesside University and the need to engage students in research methods to facilitate interest and learning.
What makes innovation different?
Many nursing students undertaking both pre-reg and post reg education, find the subject of research methods boring and esoteric. As the ex-Chair of an NHS Research Ethics Committee and an active member of a School of Health REC, I have a wealth of experience and enthusiasm in research methods and wanted to use this knowledge and experience to create a more dynamic, interactive experience for the students on the Masters program. The methods are interactive, challenging, informative and above all the students love doing them and have learnt a vast amount about the subject area.
Evaluation of the module was excellent and has helped to generate a great deal of interest and enthusiasm for a very theoretical/dry subject area. The protocols and REC applications developed as the assignment for the module are currently being used to apply to REC’s, in preparation for their dissertations in year 3 of the Masters program.
Changes in practice
The part time Masters students have chosen extremely relevant ‘nursing topics’ to develop their protocols and submit to REC’s, to commence data collection in October 2013. At this level we hoped that the students would choose areas that would enhance the patient experience in their own clinical areas and we have not been disappointed. Issues like; futility in A&E, empowerment and the patient voice, adaptation to long term conditions and female genital mutilation, to identify a few, have been developed into protocols to undertake mainly qualitative research. We wanted nurses at this level to be actively involved in nursing research rather than just be data collectors for medical staff. We think we have been very successful in this.
Impact
- Student evaluations have been excellent. A more formal evaluative study is ongoing using focus groups, nominal group technique and content analysis of student feedback.
- The innovation was also shortlisted for a National Nursing teaching innovation award (Nursing Times), we did not win but were very proud to have been shortlisted.
- The strategies have been highly commended by the Trusts for their relevance to clinical practice and other Schools within the University are interested in using the strategies for their own curricula, Social Science and Law for example.
Dissemination
- Presentation at local North East teaching and learning conference.
- Presentation to Trusts.
- Many academics within the School of Health are interested in learning more about the approach to T&L within their own subject specialism.