1. Empowering, supporting and motivating the learner by developing an interactive, academically structured, problem-based, blended learning approach to link the theory and practice of adult nursing. Alison Hasselder Senior lecturer Jean Mullin Lecturer Rowena Harland Lecturer Adult Branch Nursing

2. Background New curriculum for adult nurse programme. Pioneering new teaching and learning strategy with substantial amount of e-learning. Level 5 acute module aiming to develop critical thinking skills, linking theory with practice. Small budget Aim to enhance student engagement with the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

3. Critical Skills Set Openness Creativity Skills of enquiry Knowledge Reflexivity Confidence /Innovation in clinical practice (Gopee 2002; Knowles & McGloin 2007).

4. Product 12 on-line sessions, using blackboard tools. Clearly timetabled and linked to face-to-face sessions. Academic scaffolding. All on-line sessions had the same structure. Icons used to guide students through the activities. Interactive story podcasts with images

5. Motivating the learner Engage the learner by linking theory to practice. Interactive patient podcasts that told a story. Podcasts on line linked to Problem-based learning (PBL) in class. Regular Feedback that encouraged critical thinking. Easy to access materials Task manager and calendar used to facilitate time management.

6. Example of podcast

7. Empowerment Student’s responsibility to complete task manager. Developing the individual learner. – Resources for further reading/development. – Opportunity to revisit materials. Rational for learning.

8. Example of resources

9. Home Page/menu

10. Support Face-to-face session on first day to show them how to access and learn from the materials. Student monitoring. Encouraging emails & or face-to-face contact if students were not completing the material. Simple structure of the materials to encourage engagement

11. Example

13. Evaluation of Project How After each session students completed an on-line evaluation survey. Evaluations reviewed and acted upon whilst students were working on later sessions. Team met and brain stormed regularly. All sessions were edited before going on- line.

14. Evaluation of project Student feedback “ I enjoyed listening to the virtual case studies as it is easier to relate to real life situations.” “Relation between theory and practice via podcasts and case study” “The set out of the session, it was organised and I knew what I was trying to achieve at each point.” “well constructed in a manner that was easy to follow and understand. The provision of the resources materials made it a lot easier to complete the VLE. A lot of efforts has definitely been put into this.” “I enjoyed the virtual interaction of the patient, nurse and doctor.” “I liked the way the story built-up. It is a clever way of putting over a scenario that engaged you with both patient and the healthcare professionals, from pre- admission to assessment, diagnosis, treatment and care”. “It applied A & P to an actual patient.”

15. Evaluation: what we changed/learnt. Materials to support how to learn on-line. Decreased the number of discussion boards. Changed some activities to encourage critical thinking. Multiple attempts at quizzes. Not too much on one page. Monitor students. Persistent links to articles increased library on-line activity.

16. Changes required to support new ways of working. Staff training. Mentoring. Time to write materials. Session template. Clear web plan. Editors and writers. Sharing good practice.

17. References Gopee, N. (2002) Demonstrating critical analysis in academic assignments. Nursing Standard. 16(35) p.45-52. Knowles, J. and McGloin, S. (2007) Developing critical analysis skills in academic writing. Nursing Standard. 21 (52), p35-37.