Online Nursing Curriculum Evaluation
As part of an effort to evaluate a large project funded by the federal Health Services and Resources Administration, Bureau of Health Professions, Division of Nursing, a group of faculty members in the School of Nursing and our consultants collaborated in conducting the formative evaluation of 16 online graduate nursing courses.[1]
Elements
This project includes the following elements:
- reviewing literature that was both discipline-specific and more generally concerned with instructional design;
- defining the objectives of the evaluation project;
- identifying the essential elements of quality online courses;
- drafting the evaluation instrument;
- testing and revising the evaluation instrument;
- evaluating 16 online courses;
- debriefing the instructors of those courses;
- analyze qualitative and quantitative data; and
- disseminate results.
Objectives
The project has several main objectives. First, we wanted to create an evaluation instrument which captures what the faculty of the School of Nursing regards as the essential elements of a quality online course, but which is also informed by the expertise of educational technology professionals. This instrument should be of value to those who seek to evaluate online courses using peer review, and it should also serve as a useful guide for faculty members developing or revising online courses.
Second, the process of collaboration among experienced instructional designers and dedicated faculty members is of great value. By making our process explicit, we hope to provide other institutions with a model for adapting our or creating their own evaluation instrument.
Finally, we hope that the data collected from this intensive evaluation process will be relevant both to other programs in the health sciences and to other departments and colleges seeking to establish online curricula that comport with principles of good instructional design.
Results
Results of the analysis have been shared with School of Nursing faculty members and administrators. The principal investigators also have delivered presentations about the process, best practices discovered, and results to the larger University community and at national and international conferences. In addition, the instrument is being piloted as a guide for the development of an online curriculum in family education.
- This project was supported by funds from the Division of Nursing (DN),Bureau of Health Professions (BHPr), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) under grant number 6 D09HP00115-03-01, NM, WHCNP, and PHN Graduate Education via Technology and D09HP04068-02-01 Technology Enhanced Learning in Graduate Education. The information or content and conclusions are those of the authors and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should be any endorsements be inferred by the Division of Nursing, BHPr, DHHS or the U.S. Government.
