School of Nursing – Blended practice-based courses

The purpose of this flexible learning project is to revise the undergraduate curriculum in the School of Nursing to offer students a variety of didactic and clinical opportunities that reflect innovative care delivery in diverse practice settings and to introduce new teaching strategies in support of this, particularly with flexible learning. It will replace 12 hours of classroom time per course with flexible, blended learning activities. The transformed course will incorporate web-based multimedia and social media resources (videos, podcasts, blogs, Wikis, and discussion forums) and concept-based learning packages with combinations of case scenarios, low and high fidelity simulation exercises, and a virtual community in Blackboard Connect, such as the Canadian Virtual Neighbourhood, comprised of “households” accessing healthcare services. A teaching and learning fellow will enhance and sustain the curriculum redesign and help shape a new teaching and learning culture. Also faculty development sessions will be held to implement flexible teaching and learning activities. The implementation of these diverse and innovative educational methods will result in benefits in both how, where, and when students learn. This improved flexibility in scheduling of in-class days and use of strategies such as high-fidelity simulation will provide students with better preparation for the practice of nursing. This project will also support more flexibility in the schedule to allow our placement unit to provide more flexible scheduling of clinical practice days. The first course will be transformed in September 2013, with subsequent courses following in January, May, and September 2014.