1. A Study to Examine Post-licensure Students’ and Faculty Members’ Perceptions of the Efficacy of an Online Tutorial Program

2. Shirlene Newbanks, MSN, RN
Beverly Schaefer, Ed.D. RN
Authors

3. Objectives Identify the significance of the study.
Describe the intended audience.
Discuss an educational strategy to provide adult learners with a review of basic writing skills.
Discuss ways students can improve their writing skills in a short amount of time and with little faculty effort.
Generate ideas for expanded research in this area.
Objectives

4. Significance of the Study
Adult students & writing skills?
Strategies to improve writing skills?
Significance of the Study

5. Our Real Life Scenario RN-BSN Program (Post-licensure)
Hybrid (online and onsite)
Prescriptive curriculum
7 Core Courses- 8 weeks each
8 Topics Courses – 4 weeks each (electives)
1,299 students enrolled
Faculty:
18 full time faculty
125 adjunct faculty
Desired Program Outcome
Communicate with interprofessional team
Prepared for graduate school
Our Real Life Scenario

6. Significance of the Study
Faculty Efforts
Rubrics
Explicit instructions
Individualized feedback
Tip Sheets
Class time to teach writing
Significance of the Study

7. Who could use this?
Professions that do not need to communicate in writing?
Communication technology
Intended Audience???

8. Methodology Spring 2014 (March- June)
Quantitative\–mixed methods design
IRB approval
Questionnaire - SurveyMonkey
Faculty & Student - 13 questions
5 point Likert
Demographics
Open-ended questions
Methodology

9. Response Students n=103 Faculty n=19 Response rate: Undetermined- low
Subjects:
Students n=103
Faculty n=19
Response

10. Describe the Strategy Educational Strategy Tools: Textbook
Entry level course
Two weeks
Tools:
Textbook
On-line tutorials
Unlimited drill and practice
Mastery- 80% (60 points/1000)
Describe the Strategy

11. Tutorial Topics Four Required Lessons Grammatical Sentences
Clarity and Style
Punctuation
Spelling and Mechanics
Tutorial Topics

12. Students’ Survey Results

13. (n=105)

14. (n=105)

15. (n=104)

16. (n=104)

17. (n=104)

18. Positive students’ comments
Has been and will continue to be a good resource in my writing journey.
Very beneficial in all of my writing assignments.
Cannot imagine the hardships I would have faced without it.
Great review since I graduated from college almost 30 years ago.
It made learning more enjoyable.
Positive students’ comments

19. Is not beneficial for those with a previous college degree.
It was enough to make a person want to quit the program.
Program was redundant and extremely time consuming.
Negative comments

20. Faculty Survey Results

21. (n= 19)

22. (n= 19)

23. (n= 19)

24. n=19

25. n=19

26. n=19

27. Positive Teacher Comments
I have seen a big improvement in student’s writing skills since IWU adopted it.
The part I found most helpful was the section on wordiness.
Some students said it was a good review.
I’ve heard from some students that they enjoyed and learned from it.
Positive Teacher Comments

28. Negative Teacher Comments
I did not see an improvement.
Many problems with the tutorials and grading.
Some students had difficulty accessing the program.
Negative Teacher Comments

29. Ideas for expanded research?
Your ideas?
Where should we go next?
Where could you go from here?
Ideas for expanded research?