1. University of Northern Colorado
Art as Teaching Strategy in Nursing Education
Maria Quimba, MSN, MBA, MA, RN
Purpose / Background
Implementation
Evaluation Methods
Results
“It is not enough for an educator to know one’s discipline, effective teaching is dependent on the possession of both content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge” (Schoening, 2013).
Nurse educators must utilize innovative approaches to teaching in order to encourage multiple ways of knowing and promote the development of meaning-making.
Needs Assessment:
Faculty interviews revealed poor learning engagement and lack of professionalism among students. Art as evidence-based teaching strategy was introduced to aid in the development of empathy and compassion, necessary skills for professional formation.
Application of art as teaching strategy in a senior level, transition-to-practice course offered to students (N=25) enrolled in a large baccalaureate nursing program in the Southwest.
Learner Objectives:
Students will have learned enough about the concepts of empathy, compassion, and diversity to develop a personal definition of each concept that aligns with Provision 1 of the ANA Nursing Code of Ethics and achieves a minimum score of 90% on the scoring rubric
Students will construct a visual, artistic representation of the nursing professional in the context of nursing practice
Students will evaluate the effectiveness of the art-based strategy through written survey
Outline of Content
Historical Uses of Art
Integration of Art in the Classroom
Research Evidence
Empathy, Compassion, and Diversity in Nursing
Meaning-Making through Guided Imagery, Art-Making and Reflective Journaling
Thematic analysis of observational data
Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)* – 28 item self-report tool that measures 4 dimensions of empathy: perspective taking, fantasy, empathetic concern, and personal distress (Webster, 2010).
*Utilized extensively in personality and psychosocial research, the IRI was administered as a summative tool to measure student’s perceptions of empathy following implementation.
Empathy was measured prior to and immediately following the teaching experience using the IRI self-report tool. Students’ responses were analyzed using the scoring method identified by Davis (1980). A sum of the composite scores were calculated and averaged following each administration of the IRI tool. The results are presented in Table 1.1.
Table 1.1
Interpersonal Reactivity Index Results
IRI Domains Pretest Post-test Difference
Perspective taking
Fantasy
Empathetic Concern
Personal Distress
Thematic analysis of the observational data revealed critical reflection and self-awareness as primary responses by students.
Comparison of the pre- and post-test data did not reveal significant differences however, measures of reactivity in the domains of perspective-taking (PT) and personal distress (PD) decreased at the conclusion of the activity while empathetic concern (EC) increased slightly. Therefore, art-based teaching strategy has some measurable effect on student’s perception of empathy when integrated into a nursing leadership course.
Student perceptions of learning and teaching effectiveness using a modified end-of-course survey indicate that 79% of student (N=24) perceived the experience to be meaningful.
Literature Review
Implications
Art-based teaching strategies have been extensively studied across disciplines including: education, business, and medicine. Integration of art has shown to augment the development of empathy and compassion as well as acceptance of cultural differences. Recent studies reveal an increase in meaningful engagement, social awareness, and sensitivity among students (Wilby, 2011).
A compliment to the integration of art, guided imagery has been found to be an effective tool to “unlock taken-for-granted assumptions about our social worlds,” toward the development of empathetic understanding (MacDonnell & Macdonald, 2011, p. 204).
Implications for professional moral development and formation in the discipline:
New teaching strategies are needed to challenge traditional assumptions of learning while connecting cognitive and affective domains of learning
Approach enhances understanding of the human experience within the context of culture to promote critical, moral / ethical thinking
Development of multiple perspectives improves understanding of human vulnerability and diversity
Integration of nursing aesthetic is needed to balance the demands of a predominately technical curriculum
References
Learning Activities
Classroom Presentation: Professionalism in Nursing
Guided Imagery: “Be a Tree” Meditation
Art-Making Activity
Sharing and Open Discussion
Davis, M. (1980). A multidimensional approach to individual differences in empathy.
JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 10, 85.
MacDonnell, J.& Macdonald, G. (2011). Arts-based critical inquiry in nursing and interdisciplinary professional education: Guided imagery, images, narratives, and poetry. Journal of Transformative Education, 9(4).
Patteson, A., Restoule, J., Margolin, I., & Conely de Leon, M. (2010). Arts-based teaching and learning as an alternative approach for Aboriginal learners and their teachers. Retrieved from
201009PattesonRestouleMargolindeLeon.html
Rieger, K. & Chernomas, W. (2013). Arts-based learning: Analysis of the concept for nursing education. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 10(1), 1-10.
Webster, D. (2010). Promoting empathy through a creative reflective teaching strategy: A mixed-method study. Journal of Nursing Education, 49(2).
Wikström, B. (2011). Works of art as a pedagogical tool: An alternative approach to
education. Creative Nursing, 17(4),
Wilby, M. (2011). Teaching others to care: A case for using the humanities in nursing education. International Journal for Human Caring, 15(4),