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Syllabus Selection Innovative Learning Activity
Use of the Unfolding Case
Study in Teaching Nurse
Educator Master of Science in
Nursing Students
Currently in nursing education, the use
of interactive and transferable strategies
to narrow the gap between nursing edu-
cation and practice is imperative (Ben-
ner, Sutphen, Leonard, & Day, 2010).
Day (2011) described one such strategy
as the use of unfolding case studies in a
subject-centered classroom, which pro-
vides students with a case that slowly
unfolds as the faculty provides additional
information, rather than giving all of the
information at once, as is often done with
traditional case studies (Palmer, 2007).
Unfolding case studies provide students
with a set of data that evolves over time,
requiring them to commit to actions
based on the information they have at
a given time (Porter-Wenzlaffs, 2013).
This type of teaching promotes connected
inquiry among students and teachers.
The unfolding story must be believable,
credible, and relevant to what the class is
to accomplish (Day, 2011). Day (2011)
described four main steps in developing
an unfolding case study, based upon the
following questions:
●
What is the goal of the class, and
who are the learners?
●
What are the content areas I want
to visit during the class?
●
What do I want the case to do?
●
Who should the patient be?
In the online Master of Science in Nurs-
ing (MSN) nursing education concentra-
tion at the author’s school, students com-
plete two practicum courses in the last
two semesters of their program of study,
in which they engage in classroom, labora-
tory, clinical, and online teaching and other
activities related to the role of the nurse
educator. In the fi rst practicum course,
students read the Carnegie Foundation’s
advancement of teaching study on nursing
education (Benner et al., 2010). Four online
discussion boards for the semester center
on the implications for nursing education.
In the second practicum course, four
online discussion boards revolve around an
unfolding case study, which was developed
to address the four questions presented by
Day (2011) and adapted to the course. The
goal is to prepare students to enter the role
of the nurse educator during a time of radi-
cal transformation in nursing education.
The content areas covered provide a type
of capstone experience and deal with real-
life issues and scenarios related to the role
of the nurse educator, which come from
the experiences of the faculty member and
other nurse educators. The four discussion
boards provide scenarios related to identi-
fying faculty mentors and moving into the
role of the nurse educator, incivility and
unprofessional behavior by a student in
the clinical setting, test analysis, and aca-
demic integrity. The purposes of using this
strategy are twofold: to provide an example
of an unfolding case study for students,
and to place students in a real-life situa-
tion related to the roles of the nurse edu-
cator and engage them in discussion about
roles and issues. The faculty wrote the case
study and questions to guide the discussion
board posts. Students respond to the guided
questions regarding each scenario and dis-
cuss issues related to the scenario with their
peers. The faculty member provides a sum-
mary response to the scenario after all stu-
dents have responded and asks additional
questions to encourage further discussion
and refl ection on the issues presented.
Students are initially provided an over-
view and scenario of the case. The sce-
nario states that they are novice nurse edu-
cators with 7 years of practice experience
in an inpatient setting, who have completed
their MSN degree, with a concentration
in nursing education, within the past year.
They have just begun in a university fac-
ulty position. They are given their teach-
ing assignment, expectations for attending
faculty meetings, offi ce hours, and other
faculty responsibilities. This scenario sets
the stage for the four discussion boards.
At the time of this writing, this assign-
ment has been used for four semesters
with approximately 30 students. The un-
folding case study discussion boards have
received positive feedback from students,
who range from novice nurse educators
to those with years of experience in nurs-
ing education. Their dialogue is at a high
level, and they support their posts with
current literature. Students refl ect on what
they experience in their role as nurse edu-
cators, and those without experience in the
role are seeing the issues discussed within
their practicum settings.
At the conclusion of the course, vol-
untary, anonymous student feedback was
requested to determine whether students
felt the assignment had been benefi cial in
preparing them for their role as nurse edu-
cators. The feedback was positive, and stu-
dents felt the assignment had opened their
eyes to issues of which they were unaware.
Over the past years, the focus of nursing
education has moved from teacher centered
to student centered. With this change in
focus, teaching strategies have evolved to
be more interactive and more closely link
theory and practice, and they promote active
student involvement and interaction (West,
Usher, & Delaney, 2012). The unfolding
case study allows for applied learning that
is dynamic and engaging and replicates
real-life scenarios that face nurse educators
(Porter-Wenzlaffs, 2013). Although unfold-
ing case studies are excellent strategies to
use to promote clinical imagination, nurs-
ing education students must understand
this strategy as they enter the nurse faculty
role. Students in this course have now had
experience in learning through an unfold-
ing case study; therefore, they may be more
willing to use this strategy as educators.
References
Benner, P., Sutphen, M., Leonard, V., & Day, L.
(2010). Educating nurses: A call for radical
transformation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-
Bass.
Day, L. (2011). Using unfolding case studies in a
subject-centered classroom. Journal of Nurs-
ing Education, 50, 447-452.
Palmer, P.J. (2007). The courage to teach: Ex-
ploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s
life. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Porter-Wenzlaffs, L.J. (2013). Unfolding multi-
course case study: Developing students’ ad-
ministrative competencies. Nurse Educator,
38, 241-245.
West, C., Usher, K., & Delaney, L.J. (2012). Un-
folding case studies in pre-registration nurs-
ing education: Lessons learned. Nurse Edu-
cation Today, 32, 576-580.
Annette I. Peery, EdD, RN, CNE
peerya@ecu.edu
East Carolina University
Greenville, North Carolina
The author has disclosed no potential confl icts
of interest, fi nancial or otherwise.
doi:10.3928/01484834-20150217-11
180
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