The Nurse Educator's Role in Designing Instruction and Instructional Strategies for Academic and Clinical Settings

Nursing education programs seeking to equip graduates with needed tools to integrate medical expertise with experience in the systematic design of instruction have the opportunity to better ensure positive learning outcomes in varied settings as graduates take on their new roles as nurse educators. The learning environment of the nurse educator is complex yet with skill in the reasoned approach to the design of instruction can progress into more knowable contexts for which to problem solve. Nurse educators possessing interdisciplinary skills in their field facilitated by expertise in instructional design will enhance their practice by developing and delivering precision instruction.

Using Backward Design for Competency-Based Undergraduate Medical Education

This chapter focuses on strategies for approaching competency-based medical education (CBME) in the undergraduate medical curriculum (UME). CBME uses national professional standards, typically set by accrediting bodies or professional organizations, to shape curricular design and assessment of learner outcomes as well as to provide clarity to the learner about the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for successful practice. Wiggins and McTighe's (2015) Backward Design instructional design model provides a practical structure for approaching CBME since it proposes beginning with the national standards, defining outcomes and assessment methods, and then developing curricular content. The chapter will describe the backward design model, the history of CBME in the United States, current issues with CBME, and use of an integrated curriculum to successfully implement CBME. It will culminate with a discussion of creating action plans for individual programs to align assessment and outcome measures more directly to curriculum.

Virtual Patients in Health Professions Education

The field of health professions continues to struggle with the impact of increasing practitioner and educator shortages. Health professions education is also faced with the issues of limited clinical placements and an increasing demand for online education. To address these issues, health professions educators have increasingly turned to simulations to provide experiential learning in safe, controlled environments. One of the newest simulation technology innovations to emerge is that of virtual patient simulations. This chapter reviews the context in which virtual patients have emerged, the range of virtual patient technologies available, and the ways in which health professions educators currently use virtual patient simulations.

Teaching Residents How to Teach

In this chapter, the context of medical education is reviewed in terms of how to teach in the health care setting, commonly used instructional strategies, and the clinical learning environments of the medical student and resident trainees. Although accreditation bodies require residents to teach, and it is an activity that is assigned, it is often not delivered by the sponsoring institution. Key terms in education, learning theories, and instructional strategies are presented. In particular, strategies for medical educators to prepare residents to teach effectively in their residency program are provided. Finally, an instructional development plan for residents, with supporting worksheets and examples, is presented.

Instructional Strategies and Sequencing

An instructional strategy is a designed course of action for an instructional goal framed by credible and realistic problems in order to activate prior knowledge and experiences in order to learn new knowledge and skills. In medical education, instructional strategies are designed as purposeful interventions to meet educational goals and achieve socio-cultural norms of medical practice. Reigeluth (1983) identified three major categories for instructional strategies: organizational, delivery, and management. The purpose of this chapter is to define and classify key concepts related to instructional strategies from an instructional design perspective and then apply them toward achieving medical education goals.

Understanding Your Learner

Now more than ever before, health care educators are being challenged to meet the complex and dynamic needs of an expanding health care workforce. Continuing education requirements as well as graduate and undergraduate programs are striving to keep pace with the demands for more highly skilled health care professionals. Likewise, technology and related instructional media have been evolving at an exponential pace. The confluence of these variables requires health care educators to be knowledgeable about the options and tools available to design and deliver instruction using a variety of platforms in more diverse settings. In order to ensure that instruction achieves its intended goals, it is imperative to fully assess the learner characteristics of the target audience. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the rationale for conducting a learner analysis and utilizing learner characteristics in designing effective instruction.

Development and Evaluation of Neuroscience Computer-Based Modules for Medical Students

Interactive neuropathology computer-based teaching modules and other neuroscience computer-based resources were developed to provide individualized self-paced content information accompanied by images and self-assessment questions with feedback, along with problem-solving cases to facilitate application of neuroanatomy, neurology, and neuropathology concepts to patient cases. Initial implementation occurred in three curricula for second-year medical students. Evaluation of the modules was conducted using quantitative and qualitative methods to determine features of the modules that were important for students. This chapter will describe the instructional design principles that evaluation results identified as important and effective for student learning, and compare those to current principles for effective multimedia instructional design identified in a variety of research. Especially important principles applied in the neuroscience modules included cognitive load theory, retrieval practice and self-assessment, feedback, and learner control.

Introducing Collaborative Care

This chapter describes the development and implementation of an innovative course in interprofessional education (IPE), which ensures a large number and variety of health professions students have the appropriate foundations to collaborate. A description of the institution and the process of implementing interprofessional education is followed by a presentation of challenges and then solutions to address them in the creation of the course. Future research avenues in interprofessional education will be explored. This chapter will provide practical application of concepts for other institutions attempting to design and implement introductory interprofessional education for large numbers of students.

Interprofessional Education

Interprofessional education (IPE) is recognized as an important component in the education of healthcare students. The goal of bringing students together to learn with, from, and about each other is to ultimately impact collaborative practice and improve patient care. Over the last 20 years there has been increased focus on the design and implementation of IPE experiences. Several IPE collaborative organizations and IPE centers have been formed to provide evidence-based recommendations and guidelines. Strategies have been created for designing and implementing high quality IPE activities, developing faculty in IPE, overcoming student stereotypes, determining assessment strategies, and identifying barriers to IPE. This chapter will focus on each of these elements and provide specific recommendations on how to create and implement IPE that improves student learning.

Designing Simulated Learning Environments and Facilitating Authentic Learning Experiences in Medical Education

The purpose of this chapter is to provide some practical guidance and theoretical basis on designing simulated learning environments to researchers and instructional designers, medical educators, instructional design students, and others who are committed to improving learning and instruction in medical education. This chapter will benefit those who are interested in designing simulated learning environments and facilitating simulated learning experiences in instructional settings. The chapter first defines various types of simulations and their cognitive functions in support of students' authentic learning experiences. Following this, the chapter highlights critical components for designing simulated learning environments, including identifying learning objectives, developing problem scenarios, and facilitating students' learning experiences. It is hoped that this chapter will be a useful tool and resource for medical educators, researchers and instructional designers, and graduate students who are pursuing an advanced degree in instructional design and technology.