Assessment Of Individual Learning Research Articles

Providing consistent patient education across the continuum of cancer care.

187 Background: The need for consistent patient education across Cancer Care Services was identified while planning for the Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center. Work began in November 2015 to validate if education provided by multiple providers in various settings was consistent and delivered a clear message to patients. A plan was developed to provide consistent education across the care continuum with the goal of enhancing patient experience, improving staff workflow and defining expectations for patient education. Methods: A survey to assess the current state of education was conducted. Participants in the survey included multidisciplinary team members from inpatient and ambulatory care settings. Five questions were asked about education consistency. Comments about the current and future state of education were encouraged. An audit of educational materials was completed and outdated resources eliminated. Results: 456 surveys were sent with 154 surveys completed (34% return rate). Five major themes emerged (documentation, role expectation, resource standardization/availability, handoff between departments and disciplines, and assessment of individual learning needs). The documentation in Electronic Medical Record was inconsistent and unable to easily assess learner progress. Role expectation was poorly defined with no consistent approach to education delivery. Resource standardization/availability had varying availability of education materials and staff unaware of resources. Handoff between departments and disciplines had inconsistent documentation and no established process to identify needs and barriers related to successful handoffs. Assessment of individual learning needs had unknown compliance in completing the Learning Questionnaire. A team was assembled to address the themes. A process map of patient education was created starting at the initial encounter through end of treatment. Staff was educated on their role, available resources, and documentation expectations. Conclusions: Conducting an evaluation of the patient education process allows for identification of improvement opportunities. This reduces patient confusion and increases trust. Patient satisfaction scores related to education have increased. This work enhanced the patient experience and helped prepare for a smooth transition of patient education initiatives into our new cancer center.

8.2.2 On the Efficacy of Student Teams in Engineering: An Assessment of Individual Learning in Collaborative Projects

AbstractThe scale, complexity, and multi‐disciplinarity of systems engineering projects almost necessitate that systems engineers work in teams and that those teams are effective. Consequently, systems engineering students can expect to participate in a number of team projects during their academic careers. It is also reasonable that students can expect their effort on teams to contribute meaningfully to their individual course learning. We have developed a guidance framework that facilitates effective collaboration on teams and previously demonstrated its efficacy in team mental model convergence and its concomitant improvement in team project outcomes. In this study we investigate whether those improved team outcomes lead to an improvement in individual learning as should occur if there is team learning. We determined that this is not the case. The implications of this result are potentially troubling not only from an academic standpoint, since it challenges the validity of student teams in some cases, but also with respect to the professional development programs in place at many engineering companies. These programs are often team‐oriented with the intent of not only developing effective team players, but also in developing proficient engineers and the latter objective may be threatened.

The perceptions of students and teachers regarding the introductory module of an enrolled nurse conversion course

This study sets out to explore the perceptions of students' and their teachers' regarding the Introductory Module of a course to convert Enrolled Nurses to Registered General Nurses. The course has been developed as a joint venture with two local Schools of Nursing as an experiment in joint course management. An illuminative evaluation approach has been adopted utilising the techniques of observation, questionnaires and interviews, in order to provide information by a variety of means upon which the course management team can base their future decisions regarding the course. The findings suggest that the introductory module was perceived by the students and teachers as a valuable learning experience. Issues specific to the course which were highlighted included the need for the involvement of the course teachers from each School of Nursing in the teaching programme, the introduction of negotiated student learning, a joint approach to the assessment of theory and practice and a modification of the maternity and community care experience. General issues related to the students as mature learners included the need for pre-course preparation for the students, the assessment of individual learning needs, the inclusion in the content of essay writing skills and stress management and the need for a comprehensive staff development programme for the teaching staff. The study highlighted the need for evaluation of nurse education programmes and teaching methods in order to provide professional accountability and to ensure nurse education practice is research-based.