An on-going investigation in the learning effects of IPD projects. In three subsequent semesters the students were asked how they rated their competencies at the start of the project as well as at the end of it. Also questionnaires were filled out and students were interviewed. A lot of students tended to give themselves lower ratings in the end than in the begin. It appeared that if they met any difficulties in for instance communication or co-operation during the project, that they interpreted this as a decrease in competencies. Finally the students were explicitly asked to mention an eventual increase in competencies and also a possible contribution for this effect. Only a few factors that actually contribute to the learning effects have been defined.
Background: Despite the increasing labour market shortage of well-educated community nurses, few baccalaureate nursing students choose for a career in community care. Obtaining knowledge of how students perceive healthcare areas early in their education is important to take meaningful steps in counteracting any existing misconceptions with targeted curriculum redesign.Objective: Determination of factors underlying perceptions of healthcare areas in first-year baccalaureate nursing students. Design: A descriptive qualitative study using focus group inquiry. Methods: This study follows up on a large-sample quantitative multicentre survey study. Fourteen first-year nursing students at a university of applied sciences in the Netherlands participated in focus group discussions in October 2014. Transcripts of the discussions were coded by two independent researchers at three levels – open, axial and selective coding – on the basis of two templates. The codes were sorted into categories and assigned to suitable main codes in the templates. The number of sub-codes per category and code were added together.Results: Eight main themes were formulated, to wit (1) variety and diversity, (2) challenges, (3) improving people's health, (4) collaboration, (5) role models, (6) patient- or environment-based perceptions, (7) self-efficacy and (8) immediate vicinity. Data suggest that first-year students have clear ideas about the characteristics which they consider important in professional practice. Their perceptions do not necessarily reflect the actual situation, as they expect the hospital to possess all desired characteristics while community nursing seems to be undervalued.Conclusion: To remedy students’ misperceptions, four recommendations are formulated for curriculum redesign strategies deriving from the eight themes. These recommendations are based on collaboration between school and care organisations as well as on themes related to in-depth knowledge within the educational programme. The interventions will potentially help to strengthen the focus on community care, which will foster a more optimistic and realistic career outlook on this field.
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In the following paper I investigate the correlation between students’ use of Facebook and their first year grade point average in the Department of Media, Communication and Information at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. Differences in grade points will be measured against whether or not a student utilises Facebook. In addition, the difference in the way that they use this social network site (SNS) will also be explored, by examining their motives for using Facebook. In a previous study I categorised usage by; 1) information sharing, 2) educational purposes, 3) social purposes and 4) leisure. Digital surveys will measure these categories and be compared to the students’ grade points, using statistical tests. This will provide a valuable insight into how the differences are distributed and if there is any relationship between the purpose of Facebook use, the students’ grade points of prior education, and ultimately, whether or not a student passed all first year exams.
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