Good Practice Case Study

Teaching professionalism - Department of Nursing - Health and Behavioural Sciences

Contributed by: Isla Bowen

Abstract:

The Department of Nursing actively encourages teaching professionalism, using collaboration, discussion forums, staff development and a range of evaluation techniques.

Aims:

To provide the best possible teaching and clinical experiences to ensure that students graduating from the Bachelor of Nursing degree have been comprehensively prepared for their roles as registered nurses.

Context:

The Department of Nursing has 15.5 permanent academic staff and approximately 36 casual tutors. The Bachelor of Nursing is offered at the Wollongong Campus (approximately 400 undergraduate students) and at Bega (approximately 40 students).

Unlike most courses for health professionals which cover four years, the Bachelor of Nursing is a three-year degree. There is a large body of knowledge to cover, and a requirement that on completion of the course students be equipped to work as registered nurses in a variety of clinical settings. Therefore it is essential that there are no overlaps or gaps in the curriculum.

Outcomes:

The Nursing curriculum is up-to-date and informed by the latest clinical practice.

• The current curriculum for the Bachelor of Nursing course at the University of Wollongong was accredited by the Nurses and Midwives Board New South Wales in 2001 until 2007.

Students at Wollongong and Bega receive high quality teaching that prepares them for professional careers.

• The majority of public hospitals in New South Wales recruit staff through the New South Wales Nursing Consortium. Students from the University of Wollongong have consistently scored as one of the top three universities in the Consortium interview process for the last five years. This means that students from the Department of Nursing at the University of Wollongong are highly regarded by major health facilities across the State.
• The Department of Nursing at the University of Wollongong maintains one of the highest UAI entries for a Bachelor of Nursing course in New South Wales Universities.
• A survey was conducted by the Department of Nursing in 2003 which indicated that all graduating students looking for work were employed by March of that year.

A culture of teaching excellence is maintained within the Department.

• Moira Williamson, an academic in the Department of Nursing, is the recipient of the Vice Chancellor`s Outstanding Contribution to Teaching and Learning (OCTAL) award for 2005.
• Janette Curtis, Associate Head of the Department of Nursing, was the Faculty recipient of the OCTAL award in 2004.
• Margaret Wallace, an academic in the Department of Nursing, was awarded the Australian College of Educators/University of Wollongong Faculty of Education Excellence in Teaching Award in 2004.
• Attendance levels of Nursing staff at University of Wollongong CEDIR teaching development workshops are consistently very high.
• Student evaluations are highly rated. For example, in clinical workshops, consortium workshops, and teaching evaluations.

What was done?

A culture of collaboration and discussion

The Department and its staff take learning and teaching seriously and there is a culture of open discussion. Issues such as difficulties with a particular tutorial or laboratory can be freely discussed both formally and informally with a supportive group of colleagues.

In non-teaching weeks throughout the year, staff present at departmental forums and give an overview of the subjects they coordinate. The rationale, teaching strategies, assessment issues, student feedback, and recommendations for improvement are discussed. This has several purposes. It:

• ensures that all staff understand what topics are covered in other subjects to avoid overlap and identify any gaps;
• is a form of development for new lecturers to gain ideas;
• allows course coordinators to ensure that the implemented curriculum is the authentic version of the curriculum document;
• encourages debate and discussion on learning and teaching issues.
• New subjects are frequently chosen for discussion at these forums to ensure that all staff are kept informed - again to minimise overlaps and prevent gaps developing between subjects.

The Department also encourages team teaching, and two people are identified as coordinators for many subjects. This works to:

• provide expert backup if one person is on leave;
• encourage discussion and continuous subject improvement.

Communicating policies

• An assessment handbook is produced for the Department, providing a single source for all policies and guidelines needed by teaching staff as well as students. This is reviewed and updated annually, and copies distributed to all academic staff, including casual tutors and students. It is also available on the Department of Nursing web page and WebCT for the students.
• Guest speakers are regularly invited to present at Departmental meetings on areas where staff awareness is important, including assessment good practice and other teaching topics. Recent examples include, information on COGNOS, IT issues, WebCT, EduStream, copyright issues, and disability policy.

Formal meetings and assessment practices

• Assessment Committee meetings are held monthly, and are well-attended. These meetings deal with a range of issues in depth, and regular agenda items include assessment methods, teaching policies, student progress, including requests for special consideration, clinical placements, and evaluation results.
• Each session, the Assessment Committee meets for a full day to review the content, direction and assessment to ensure that all subject outlines for the following session meet the requirements of the Code of Practice - Teaching and Assessment. The Committee makes sure assessment methods are varied and that the assessment relates to subject learning outcomes.
• The Assessment committee also meets for a day each session to review all exam papers. For this meeting, subject coordinators are required to provide answers as well as questions.
• Where different markers are used for essays/assignments, each marker is given a common group of papers to mark, and these are used to ensure consistency.
• Year coordinator meetings are held when necessary. Year coordinators also meet with student year representatives on a regular basis. In 2004, the Year 3 student representatives produced a monthly newsletter to keep students informed of any issues or important events. Student year representatives also attend Departmental meetings.
• Discipline areas such as medical-surgical nursing that employ large numbers of casual staff, also have regular meetings to ensure consistency across tutorial activities and marking.
• Staff coordinating subjects in Bega visit the Bega campus twice a session to meet with tutors and students. Bega students also travel to Wollongong campus once per session to attend Clinical workshops before attending their clinical practicum.
• A video-conference is held with the subject coordinator and students in Bega every fortnight.

Support, training and professional development

• Career Development Interviews conducted with all academic staff include discussion of career plans, any barriers, and identify any relevant professional development.
• Attendance at teaching workshops is encouraged by the Department (Department Head, Assessment Committee, subject coordinators, undergraduate coordinator). Courses being run are discussed informally between staff.
• Many academic staff are also active in their profession. They are engaged in clinical work including, shifts in hospitals, sit on health-related tribunals, are active in professional or regulatory organisations, or have ministerial appointments on clinical bodies.
• When a specific need arises, the Department may organise a special course. A recent course included COGNOS.
• New academics are provided with considerable support, including:
• on arrival, they are introduced to the Department, provided with information on administrative requirements, relevant IT equipment; and teaching resources.
• they are invited to sit in on lectures and tutorials to observe how they are operate.
• all new staff are required to attend the University of Wollongong induction and to complete the Introduction to Tertiary Teaching.
• in their first session, they are encouraged to take part in peer reviews where another lecturer sits in on their classes and provides feedback.
• Casual teachers are required to attend the Casual Teachers` Induction.

Recognising achievement

• Academic staff nominated for teaching awards are given assistance with submissions.
• The Head of Department, the Dean of the Faculty, and colleagues always send out congratulatory emails if someone has achieved a success, eg when someone has won a grant or teaching award, or a new staff member has a conference paper accepted, or someone has been promoted.
• Funding has been released to support professional development of staff involved in developing the flexibly delivered Bachelor of Nursing curriculum for the Bega campus.
• Staff meet informally to congratulate and celebrate with successful colleagues.

Key dates:

Ongoing. Examples of commencement dates include:

• The Online Evaluation Environment (OLEE) has been conducted with selected subjects since 2002.
• Assessment Committee review of subject outlines and exams commenced approximately 2000.
• Collaborative teaching has been a feature of the current Bachelor of Nursing curriculum commenced in 2002.

Critical success factors:

• Acknowledging and rewarding success both formally and informally.
• Ensuring that all staff stay well-informed on learning and teaching policies and other formal requirements.
• Encouraging a culture of peer support within the Department.
• Keeping informed of current clinical and educational good/best practice.
• Maintaining good relationships with external organisations, including Area Health Services, private health facilities, and clinicians.
• Ensuring staff are involved in research projects.

Review and improvement:

• Student feedback on workshops, lectures, tutorials and laboratories is collected systematically through written evaluations, and this feedback is used to improve teaching and subject material. For example, clinical workshops have been revised based on student feedback.
• New subjects are evaluated using the Online Subject Evaluation Environment (OLEE).
• Evaluation is a regular agenda item for Assessment Committee meetings. Staff are encouraged to share their results and discuss comments.
• New staff are offered peer review of teaching, where senior staff sit in on their classes and provide feedback.
• An External Advisory Committee meets annually to provide feedback on the curriculum.
• Under an arrangement with University of Sheffield, two academics are currently reviewing the curriculum. They have met with individual staff, have evaluated course materials and maintain ongoing contact with subject coordinators. They are preparing a report which will be presented at the Departmental staff meeting in late 2005.
• Specialist areas (for example, midwifery, mental health, developmental disability) also have their own advisory arrangements, for example, clinicians are invited to meet with subject coordinators during the year to advise on current practice.
• The Department of Nursing carries out a five-year rolling plan for subject review. Various evaluation techniques are used, including: peer review, discussions with students to canvass their ideas for improvement, student surveys, and feedback from advisory committees. Feedback is discussed at assessment meetings and when the curriculum is reviewed. Recommendations and any changes are discussed at the Assessment Committee and ratified through staff meetings.

Future plans:

• Continue to encourage and support staff to attend staff development courses within the University.
• Provide support for more staff to complete their postgraduate qualifications. A number of staff are currently undertaking doctorates/PhDs and several have recently completed further degrees.
• Encourage and support staff to have a higher profile within University committees.
• Encourage new academic staff who undertake the Introduction to Tertiary Teaching course to complete a postgraduate teaching qualification.
• Encourage and support staff to work collaboratively and participate in across discipline projects, and to apply for Faculty Service Agreements to develop innovative teaching resources.
• A new curriculum will be developed following the report from the external reviewers from the University of Sheffield.