Creating communities of inquiry Professor Jane Mills James Cook University

A healthy nursing profession is underpinned by commitment to increasing the bank of knowledge in the field. BUT… in hospitals, health services and universities, negativity remains towards research. Nursing research

In many nursing students’ eyes, research is…  disliked (1)  regarded as stressful or unnecessary (2)  perceived as complex, challenging and difficult to understand or translate to practice (3) Nursing research

We trialled a Communities of Inquiry framework to refresh and enliven the delivery of a postgraduate research subject for nurses and midwives. The project

Evaluate student satisfaction with the redesigned post- graduate core nursing and midwifery research subject, delivered using a Community of Inquiry framework. Study aim

Participants Study participants were a convenience sample (n=29), drawn from 56 students enrolled in postgraduate nursing and midwifery programs at James Cook University (52 per cent response rate)

A framework for creating meaningful learning experiences The CoI framework was designed to promote inquiry and deep learning through well-directed and planned teaching; guided student dialogue; analysis and reflection within a connected, collaborative online community. (4) Communities of Inquiry (CoI)

CoI integrates three online presences: social, cognitive and teaching (4,5)

 Survey data analysed descriptively  Interviews taped and transcribed and analysed using Microsoft® Word and Excel (6) Data analysis Survey statements with highest and lowest levels of agreement MeanSD*% Highest The instructor clearly communicated important subject goals % The instructor clearly communicated important due dates/time frames for learning activities % Lowest The instructor was helpful in identifying areas of agreement and disagreement on subject topics to help me learn % I was able to form distinct impressions of some subject participants % Excerpt from quantitative data analysis

Findings Key themes 1.Subject design & delivery – beneficial, challenging and effective a.Lecturers – a central pivot to developing and sustaining the community b.Levels of learning and inquiry c.The power of the carrot or stick: motivators and incentives 2.Cultivating a sense of community through social interaction 3.Application – knowledge, practice, and research 4.Technology and Technicalities 5.Student Recommendations

Beneficial, challenging and effective “Well, there was the Learning Circle, there was the blog as well, and then there was also the meetings. I thought, ‘oh my gosh, there's just so much – plus, on top of that, I've got to do the usual assignment tasks, and all of that’. So I was thinking, ‘how am I going to fit all this in?’ but I did. What I did find in all of that – it helped me learn, because it gave me a bit more structure.” (Participant quotes) Theme 1: Subject design & delivery

Social interaction “By the end of the group, I actually did feel I knew those people. I felt a sense that I actually - even though some of them lived 2,000 kilometres away - that I actually had a sense of knowledge of who they were, and where they sat.” (Participant quote) Theme 2: Cultivating a community

Knowledge, practice and research “I didn't want to just do something for the sake of getting a - mark, I wanted to actually learn how to do this research” (Participant quote) Theme 3: Application

“…I thought, I'll have a go at the YouTube thing. That took a while to get my head around, and it was interesting, trying to film myself with an iPad. … I learned something new about YouTube. I'm a star on YouTube. Theme 4: Technology, technicalities

 Guidelines for participating  An agenda  Use of headphones and a microphone for discussion meetings to avoid feedback  Increasing the number and available times for meetings  Smaller group sizes  For the blogs, suggestions were aimed at timelier student contributions to the weekly topics Theme 5: Student recommendations

Conclusions  Nurse researchers must be effective collaborators as well as critical thinkers (7).  CoI, therefore, is a good fit to teach nursing research: the pedagogy equips students with research knowledge, and the experience and skills required for collaboration.  Effective teacher facilitation and subject design and delivery is critically important to creating CoIs (8)

Questions?

1.Mattila, L.-R., & Eriksson, E. (2007). Nursing students learning to utilize nursing research in clinical practice. Nurse Education Today, 27(6), Warkentin, K. D., Popik, K., Usick, R., & Farley, T. (2014). Fostering enthusiasm for research: Insights of undergraduate nursing students. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 4(5), Hewitt-Taylor, J., Heaslip, V., & Rowe, N. E. (2012). Applying research to practice: Exploring the barriers. British Journal of Nursing, 21(6), Garrison, D. R., & Arbaugh, J. B. (2007). Researching the community of inquiry framework: Review, issues, and future directions. The Internet and Higher Education, 10(3), Garrison, D. R., & Vaughan, N. D. (2008). Blended learning in higher education: Framework, principles, and guidelines. John Wiley & Sons. 6.Hahn, C. (2008). Doing qualitative research using your computer: A practical guide. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage publications. 7.Papatsiba, V. (2013). The Idea of Collaboration in the Academy: its epistemic and social potentials and risks for knowledge generation. Policy Futures in Education, 11(4), Akyol, Z., & Garrison, D. R. (2014). The development of a community of inquiry over time in an online course: Understanding the progression and integration of social, cognitive and teaching presence. References

Like to know more? Mills, J., Yates, K., Harrison, H., Woods, C., Chamberlain-Salaun, J., Trueman, S. & Hitchins, M. Using a Community of Inquiry framework for the design and delivery of a core online nursing research subject: an evaluative study.