The use of podcasts to enhance research-teaching linkages in undergraduate nursing students.

Strickland, Karen; Gray, Colin; Hill, Gordon

Abstract

An understanding of research is important to enable nurses to provide evidence-based care. However, undergraduate nursing students often find research a challenging subject. The purpose of this paper is to present an evaluation of the introduction of podcasts in an undergraduate research module to enhance research-teaching linkages between the theoretical content and research in practice and improve the level of student support offered in a blended learning environment. Two cohorts of students (n = 228 and n = 233) were given access to a series of 5 "guest speaker" podcasts made up of presentations and interviews with research experts within Edinburgh Napier. These staff would not normally have contact with students on this module, but through the podcasts were able to share their research expertise and methods with our learners. The main positive results of the podcasts suggest the increased understanding achieved by students due to the multi-modal delivery approach, a more personal student/tutor relationship leading to greater engagement, and the effective use of materials for revision and consolidation purposes. Negative effects of the podcasts centred around problems with the technology, most often difficulty in downloading and accessing the material. This paper contributes to the emerging knowledge base of podcasting in nurse education by demonstrating how podcasts can be used to enhance research-teaching linkages and raises the question of why students do not exploit the opportunities for mobile learning.

Citation

STRICKLAND, K., GRAY, C. and HILL, G. 2012. The use of podcasts to enhance research-teaching linkages in undergraduate nursing students. Nurse education in practice [online], 12(4), pages 210-214. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2012.01.006

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 31, 2012
• Online Publication Date: Jul 31, 2012
• Publication Date: Jul 31, 2012
• Deposit Date: Dec 18, 2013
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 18, 2013
• Journal: Nurse education in practice
• Print ISSN: 1471-5953
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-5223
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 210-214
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2012.01.006
• Keywords: Research teaching linkages; Podcast; Blended learning; Mobile learning; Nurse education
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/912
• Contract Date: Dec 18, 2013