Evaluating narrative pedagogy in nursing education
Conventional teaching approaches centered on covering content are no longer adequate at equipping nursing graduates with the necessary cognitive and affective skills to function in the challenging roles of nursing practice. Nursing educators are adopting new pedagogies, such as Narrative Pedagogy, to better prepare graduates for the ever changing healthcare environment. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of educators who have used Narrative Pedagogy to teach nursing concepts and topics. This study sought to understand how educators evaluated students' learning outcomes following the enactment of Narrative Pedagogy. The research questions were as follows: (1) What are the desired learning outcomes following the enactment of Narrative Pedagogy? and (2) Which evaluation methods and tools are most appropriate to measure student outcomes following the enactment of Narrative Pedagogy? The participants consisted of eight nursing educators from the United States who had recently used Narrative Pedagogy to prepare registered nursing students. Each participant was interviewed initially via phone and asked to send examples of their syllabi, students' narratives, students' assignment submissions, and/or other evaluation tools. After the researcher reviewed the initial interview transcripts and documents, a follow-up phone interview was conducted. Data were analyzed, synthesized, and interpreted using an iterative, nonlinear three phase process using Heideggerian hermeneutics and descriptive statistics. Three major themes, related to evaluating Narrative Pedagogy emerged: (a) determining use of Narrative Pedagogy, (b) enhancing desired student outcomes, and (c) determining evaluation methods and tools. Results should help the pedagogical decisions of educators and initiate or continue dialogue related to nursing education reform among educators, administrators, students, and other stakeholders.
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