Pam Sherlock School of Nursing p.sherlock@salford.ac.uk

Giving students academic support using a blended learning approach

Pam Sherlock School of Nursing p.sherlock@salford.ac.uk 0161 295 2860

Pam Sherlock School of Nursing p.sherlock@salford.ac.uk

4 Areas for consideration:How can we identify and support students

with special needs via blended learning?Appropriately manage our time in a 24/7

culture?Give sensitive and appropriate feedback

via email?Consider what information about student

contact should be maintained and in what format it should be stored?

Pam Sherlock School of Nursing p.sherlock@salford.ac.uk

Reasons to consider this research proposal

• Although until recently, there has been a big push to recruit more nursing students, it is estimated that one in four student nurses abandon their training (Hall 2006)

• The failure of nursing students to complete the programmes in Britain costs the NHS £57 million a year (Hall 2006)

• The quality and clinical relevance of nurse education programmes can have a considerable impact on the retention of students (Por and Barriball 2008)

Pam Sherlock School of Nursing p.sherlock@salford.ac.uk

Backdrop to the research question – changes and challenges Increased use of VLE, emails, mobile phones and voicemail

Changing style of teaching and learning (less face-to-face contact more blended learning)

Our nursing students combine theoretical study with clinical placements (shift work) + part time jobs

Many of our nursing students have work/life balance issues

Widening participation and increased desire to recruit students from varying ethnic and cultural groups brings a rich blend of students from many backgrounds. But this brings challenges…

Pam Sherlock School of Nursing p.sherlock@salford.ac.uk

1) Students with special needsStudents who may have dyslexia or other major

problems with the way that they writeStudents who demonstrate that English is not

their first language and who appear to have difficulties in academic writing (Race 2007)

The “vulnerable” student where personal issues impact on their academic work (Por and Barriball 2008)

International students may bring to the programme differing cultural, religious and emotional issues that may affect their ability to study (Wheeler and Birtler 1995, Race 2007)

Pam Sherlock School of Nursing p.sherlock@salford.ac.uk

(2) Managing the 24/7 culture

We have to make decisions about how our students communicate with us

Student expectations are that they email us and expect a very quick response in return

Many students leave their work until the “last minute” and then get very frustrated when we may not be able to give feedback in time for submission

We give supervision to a large number of students

Pam Sherlock School of Nursing p.sherlock@salford.ac.uk

(3) Communication by email

Annotating and giving feedback takes much time, and there is always the concern as to how much “help” you give them

If the feedback is so extensive, how can you return the annotated work in a manner that is supportive and positive?

Etiquette for communicating

Pam Sherlock School of Nursing p.sherlock@salford.ac.uk

(4) Documentation of student contact

As we have moved to a “paperless” environment and now use our VLE so much, how do we maintain student records?

Do we need to maintain records in the first place?

How do we share this information and how does this “fit in” with Data Protection etc?

Pam Sherlock School of Nursing p.sherlock@salford.ac.uk

What I have tried out so far… In order to have a concordant

relationship with a student and to give effective academic support:

Ideally, you have to have at least one face-to-face meeting in order to negotiate how you will work together

Its important to not only discuss the assignment, but to find out the student’s strengths and weakness

Establish how you will communicate and set parameters. Be assertive as to the “cut off” point for your input

Pam Sherlock School of Nursing p.sherlock@salford.ac.uk

More thoughts.. Don’t expect that using VLE and emails is an easy option

Set aside time to do “email tutorials” in the same way you would do face-to-face tutorials

Devise methods of recording your contact but be sure to discuss this with the student so that they can give their consent

Keep all emails/details of contact – consider hard copies

Always copy the student into the emails and be transparent

Pam Sherlock School of Nursing p.sherlock@salford.ac.uk

Also…. Do not give extensive

feedback just in the form of an annotated email (if its obvious that there is a major problem) – this has to be done face-to-face. Consider visiting student in placement

Seek early support for the student from other services and agencies

Consider using a staff shared drive to file student information (but it needs to be secure and conform to data protection issues)

Pam Sherlock School of Nursing p.sherlock@salford.ac.uk

Taking the question forwardApplying for funding to work on this

furtherPotential and possibility of

Interprofessional WorkingConsider what else might be done to

improve the student experience

Pam Sherlock School of Nursing p.sherlock@salford.ac.uk

References Crouch, R., Barrett,R.,(2006). Issues for online personal tutoring: Staff perceptions from

an online distance learning programme as cited in: Thomas, L., Hixenbaugh, P., (Eds),(2006) Personal Tutoring in Higher Education. Great Britain. Trentham Books.

Hall, S., (2006). One in four student nurses abandons study. The Guardian, 15 February 2006. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2006/feb/15/health.students1/print (Last accessed 17th June 2008).

Por, J., Barriball, L., (2008). The Personal Tutor’s role in pre-registration nursing education. British Journal of Nursing. Vol 17, No 2. 99 – 103.

Race, P., (2007). The Lecturer’s Toolkit: A Practical Guide to Assessment, Learning and Teaching. Great Britain. Routledge Taylor and Francis Group.

University of Salford AQA(2007/08) Personal Tutoring Role and Responsibilities and Code of Practice. Available at: http://www.academic.salford.ac.uk/aqa/sections/05_personal_tutoring-role_and_responsibilities_and_cop.pdf (Last accessed 17th June 2008)

Wheeler, S., Birtle, J., (1993). A Handbook for Personal Tutors. Great Britain. The Society for Research into Higher Education.