We continue Module 4 with the exciting topic of active learning. As we lead, nursing informatics training and education programs and courses it is essential to ensure that we are leveraging our creative leadership culture as visionaries and innovators. We studied numerous nursing informatics pioneers such as, doctors Diane Skiba, Suzanne Bakken, and Connie White Delaney, who envisioned innovation and training in education. These pioneers and others repeatedly emphasized the importance of hands-on learning and student engagement in technology. Why? Because we learn better using both sides of our brains, and involving our muscle memories and nerve pathways. Because the skills we are learning, our hands-on or have implications for end users, who are every day using both sides of their brains and involving their muscle memories and nerve pathways. Given that, active learning is prevalent and known for its effectiveness in nursing education. I'll share some of my favorite examples with rationale, and encourage you to share your examples and experiences and favorite active learning strategies in your discussions. In the think-pair-share example, the instructor provides a question. The question should be somewhat complex to stimulate diverse responses. Students individually think about their own responses, and then pairs (or small groups of students) share their responses with one another and formulate a joint response to share back with the instructor and students, who then discuss the shared responses. This technique is effective in person and in virtual settings. Think-pair-share give students time to reflect on the question and to consider their own perspectives, and then broaden that understanding and internalize new ideas through sharing. The learning is further expanded and reinforced through the classroom discussion. Another of my favorites is, each one teach one named for a proverb that originated in Africa. Each one teach one has been widely adopted by programs and educators because explaining what you know to someone else helps you better understand the knowledge. Incorporating the principle within classrooms allows students charged with the mastery of a particular topic to engage with peers in a teaching mentoring role and to solidify their learning around the topic. Engaging students as peer teachers, empowers and enlightens. In informatics as in all nursing specialities, we need a practical active learning strategy to provide hands-on experiences for our students. As we lead in training and education settings, we can help emphasize the importance of both technology and health in our courses by creatively incorporating hands-on experiences with technology or simulated technology. In nursing informatics training sessions, technology such as the EHR platform may be provided. In education or other settings it may be necessary to purchase technologies for the classroom, or to invent simulated technologies for hands-on learning opportunities. In our example standards course, we incorporate simulations across the continuum of knowledge complexity. I'll provide examples of each of these simulated learning activities in the following slides. You can incorporate other active learning strategies into these simulated informatics activities as well, having students present their findings and discuss them before sharing insights with the class. In the first assignment, data dictionary, students gain experience in coding standards for knowledge representation in electronic health records by developing a data dictionary for evidence-based interventions or guidelines that incorporate structured data elements including SNOMED CT and like. They benefit from practice using spreadsheets, as well as from learning to identify linkages among terminologies. This is an example of evidence-based intervention stated dictionary from the social and behavioral determinants of health guideline, encoded with SNOMED CT and the Omaha System. Data begins the continuum of knowledge complexity as discussed earlier by doctors pressured and Clancy, as we define and agree upon the data elements that should be used for documentation of quality care using a standardized terminology. The second assignment, data entry. Students gain experience selecting interventions and generating data using a simulated electronic platform such as this customized data entry tool, which was created in Google forms. It enables data capture for the standardized interventions for social and behavioral determinants of health as seen in the spreadsheet on the previous slide. This advances along the continuum of knowledge complexity, as applicable interventions may be documented by selecting them from the list for a fictitious case study, providing information about the care that was delivered. Use of this form generates structured data that can then be aggregated for the next assignment. In the third assignment, Data Analysis, students use aggregate data from multiple student responses for analysis to clean information and knowledge from data. They use a few simple methods such as pivot tables and descriptive statistics to answer questions about health care quality and outcomes. As nursing informatics leaders, we need to ensure that the future of nursing workforce can use data for decision-making. When we provide data generated by students for their fictitious client encounters, we offer an opportunity to increase their clinical data management and analysis competencies, that is low cost and without security risks. Completing this analysis advances along the content knowledge, the complexity continuum from data, to information, to knowledge about patterns in care, and related outcomes. These findings can then be developed into a meaningful report in the next assignment. In the final assignment, Data Reporting. Students synthesize results of their analysis and create a report for identified stakeholders, complete with charts and graphs. In doing so, they learn to interpret their results and provide high-stakes messages to their stakeholders. In this pivot table report and bar chart, we see that the most interventions provided in this simulated dataset, were for the abuse problem. Certainly, a red flag that would be of interest to clinicians and leaders alike. Completing this analyses advances knowledge representation from data to meaning, and has potential for further exploration on the continuum towards Philosophy and wisdom, as students discuss their experiences and insights. These four simulated experiences increased necessary competencies for future nurse informaticians and leaders. What active learning strategies and hands-on data experiences will you include in your course?
