Lamphon, Hadeel
(2020)
The transferability of Open Reusable Learning Objects (RLOs) to nursing clinical skills education in the Saudi context: a mixed method study.
PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.
Abstract
Background: A key challenge in nursing education now, in light of the ongoing ‘fitness to practise’ debate, is to make nursing clinical skills education (CSE) suitable, accessible, available, and smart for a larger student cohort. Web-based/online learning technology has gained popularity in supporting nursing clinical skills education in an era of rapid expansion of technology. However, the development of these e-learning interventions needs financial and human investment. With the ease of uploading material to the internet, recent years have seen a rapid increase in the development and use of Open Educational Resources (OERs) globally. Nevertheless, the spread of OERs to many countries is delayed for reasons such as cultural, social, and legal factors. While there is potential to use existing resources of this kind in the form of OERs, there is no evidence as to how these may transfer to another setting in nursing CSE. Reusable Learning Objects (RLOs) are one form of OERs and the focus of this study.
Aim: To explore the transferability of open Reusable Learning Objects (RLOs) created in the UK to a clinical skills education context in Saudi nursing education. The transferability model Population-Intervention-Environment-Transfer (PIET) was used as a theoretical framework for a comprehensive consideration of RLOs transferability.
Method: This sequential mixed method research was comprised of three phases. Data for the first exploratory phase were collected through think-aloud sessions and focus-groups for senior nursing students and tutors to gain a deep understanding of their perspectives on the open UK RLOs and elucidate any new variables that could emerge to inform the content of the student self-evaluation questionnaire (SSEQ). These influenced the following study phases. The second phase involved the implementation of six clinical skills RLOs on a Saudi nursing course. Data was collected for the third evaluation phase through the developed SSEQ to evaluate the educational value, usability and impact of UK RLOs for clinical skills learning in Saudi nursing education. This was followed by a focus-group for nursing tutors to gain a deep understanding of their experiences of the implementation of RLOs.
Findings: The findings of the exploratory phase suggested that most students and tutors exhibited positive views about the potential usefulness of, attitude towards and engagement with the RLOs. Despite this, there were many limitations of the RLOs usability related to the content of RLOs and technical characteristics. Based on the findings, the SSEQ was developed for the evaluation phase. 138 students (98% response rate) responded to the SSEQ. The SSEQ was subjected to a construct validity analysis using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). It revealed three components in the SSEQ with high internal consistency: students’ views on the educational values of clinical skills RLOs for Saudi nursing students; students’ views on the utility and usability of the RLOs and students’ views on the impact of the RLO media attributes in supporting clinical skills learning. The descriptive statistics revealed that RLOs were effective in supporting the students’ understanding of basic clinical skills and contributing to perceived support in performance, knowledge and confidence in basic clinical skills competency outcomes compared with other educational resources that students used.
Conclusion: This study suggests that RLOs created in the UK, which is more familiar with producing and using OERs, are transferable to another context which is less experienced in using OERs. This is in light of the four main factors that influenced the RLOs transferability: 1) participants’ acceptance and attitudes toward the RLOs; 2) the RLOs themselves as an intervention in terms of quality, evidence-based content, and usability; 3) the environment that includes practice change and policy and legislation; 4) the successful implementation process of the RLOs. Transferable to a wider setting, this research makes a new and original contribution to the existing knowledge and evidence-base of nursing literature about open RLOs specifically, and OERs in general, by exploring the transferability and acceptability of a novel format of web-based learning using RLOs in Saudi nursing CSE. It is hoped this research will influence future studies in this important area.
| Item Type: |
Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
(PhD)
|
| Supervisors: |
Wharrad, Heather
Todhunter, Fern |
| Keywords: |
Nursing Clinical Skills Education, Reusable Learning Objects (RLOs), Open Educational Resources (OERs), Transferability |
| Subjects: |
W Medicine and related subjects (NLM Classification) > WY Nursing |
| Faculties/Schools: |
UK Campuses > Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences
UK Campuses > Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Nursing |
| Item ID: |
63650 |
| Depositing User: |
Lamphon, Hadeel
|
| Date Deposited: |
07 Jan 2021 14:10 |
| Last Modified: |
31 Oct 2021 04:30 |
| URI: |
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/63650 |
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