Faculty-student Communication Research Articles

Reflective Journaling for Clinical Judgment Development and Evaluation

Reflective journaling is a strategy used often in clinical education to gain insight into students' clinical thinking; however, studies indicate that students may benefit from guided reflections. Numerous tools have been used to structure student reflection with varying results. This article describes the outcomes from using the Guide for Reflection based on Tanner's Clinical Judgment Model. The Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric, created from the Model, is used to evaluate development of clinical judgment and provides language to communicate about clinical thinking with students. Senior immersion course competencies, also developed with language from Tanner's Clinical Judgment Model,offer a comprehensive package that fosters students' clinical judgment development, faculty-student communication about clinical judgment, and evaluation of students' clinical thinking.

Technology-Mediated Instruction in Distance Education and Teacher Preparation in Special Education

In this article, the authors examine the literature on distance education and offer a brief chronology of its past-to-present development, with special attention to the evolution of technology-mediated instruction. They document some of the major trends related to both theoretical and practical aspects of distance education. In particular, they look at the significance of the design of instruction and the importance of preserving faculty—student communication. Next, they look at the challenges as well as opportunities that distance education affords students, faculty, and institutions of higher education. Finally, the authors summarize what they believe to be major issues to be resolved if educators are to improve the quality of distance education and speculate about what the future might hold with regard to distance education and special education.

A Delphi Study of Innovative Teaching in Baccalaureate Nursing Education

The purpose of this Delphi study was to describe the process of innovative teaching in the baccalaureate nursing classroom, based on the consensus of expert nurse educators (n = 28). Round 1 involved a semi-structured survey that required participants to identify essential components of, facilitators of, and barriers to innovative teaching. Content analysis of the responses was used to construct the 62-item Round 2 survey in which participants ranked the importance of each item using a 7-point, Likert-type scale. The Round 3 survey included the same items and provided the median scores of the participants' own and other experts' responses. The highest-ranked essential components were faculty open, seeking new ideas; faculty motivation, commitment, and enthusiasm; and open and effective student-faculty communication. The highest-ranked facilitators were effective communication with students, faculty motivation and enthusiasm for change, and faculty satisfaction with innovative teaching. Faculty attitudes, fears, and lack of knowledge of innovative teaching were the highest-ranked barriers to innovative teaching in the nursing classroom.

Using Information Technology for Active Learning in International Business Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of information technology (IT) in international business education. Results indicated that incorporating such technology in the pedagogy and course curriculum facilitated active learning for the students and augmented faculty performance. Specifically, IT helped the faculty develop innovations, assess students better and increase classroom management skills. In addition, it enhanced student-student and student-faculty communication and collaboration, and improved students’ access to information. However, contrary to popular belief, usage of technology did not improve students’ analytical and problem solving skills.

The Use of Notecards as a Technique for Enhancing the Quality of Large Introductory Classes

Poor attendance, low student interest, and inadequate faculty-student communication are a few of the problems faced by instructors of large introductory-geology classes. I present a simple method for enhancing the quality of these large sections. Students submit one three-by-five card (a “notecard”) on a particular day of the week. The card contains the student's name and one of three items: a topic from lecture or laboratory that she/he did not understand, a concept from the assigned reading that she/he did not understand, or a potential exam question. Participation is optional, but I encourage it by adding one point per submitted notecard to the student's lowest exam score. I review all notecards outside of class and then address a selected “problem topic” at the beginning of the next class meeting. I incorporate suitable test questions into exams, where they are identified as student questions. The use of notecards in introductory classes encourages weekly review of class materials by students, improves faculty-student communication, and promotes class attendance.

Cadaver radiography in the teaching of gross anatomy.

The authors describe a new teaching method for first-year medical students, involving preparation and use of cadaver radiographs in the gross anatomy laboratory. A standard series of radiographs of each cadaver was obtained prior to dissection and provided to each group of students. This technique offers a unique opportunity for radiographic/anatomical/pathological correlation, facilitates an understanding of complex anatomical relationships, and illustrates the application of anatomical knowledge to clinical practice. It can also generate intense student enthusiasm and improve student-faculty communication and teaching relationships.

The prisoner's dilemma: Classroom conflict experienced

If learning is to take place in the community college classroom, communication among those who share that classroom must be a prerequisite. At this point in our collective experience, two barriers to faculty-student communication confront us. First, we have what might be called the McLuhan barrier, which presents itself in the form of students and teachers whose commonality-the semantic basis of communication-of beliefs, tastes, and concept formation is less strong than in previous generations and threatens to become weaker still. Second, we have retained the long-standing authoritarian barrier, the role sets which are typified by all those devices from grades to assigned seating that create a natural adversary relationship between students and teachers, and oftenbecause of the competition involved-among the students themselves. We must understand a bit about these mutually reinforcing barriers if we are to deal with them realistically at the community college level. One way to grapple with the problem of understanding these barriers is to experience them in operation and analyze the experience to see if it will yield possible strategies for classroom application. This is the approach that was taken in a presentation of this material to community college faculty and administrators. We begin with a short burst of media artifacts that are part of most students' commonality, but are somewhat alien to most teachers. We continue with a simulation of the win-lose

Growth in medical students through group process.

Voluntary participation in group seminars is offered to freshman medical students at Cornell Medical College in an effort to make the medical student, and hence the graduate physician, a more sensitive, empathic, and self-aware individual. The authors outline the techniques used in the seminars and discuss problem areas within the program. Student interest has been high, and participants' reactions to the experience, although varied, have generally been favorable. The program has also promoted greater faculty-student communication, the authors conclude, thus indirectly enhancing the entire learning process.