Ima Stoodent
Article Reviews
ELFN 6773 Introduction to Statistics and Research
Summer 2010
McGuinness, T., & Noonan, P. (2004). Top 10 reasons to take your graduate program in psychiatric
nursing online. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing & Mental Health Services. Retrieved July 11, 2010
from:
http://lawrence.library.astate.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true
&db=c8h&AN=2005034232&site=ehost-live
Psychiatric Nursing Online
The purpose of this article is to show how a web-based graduate nursing program will benefit
those in psychiatric studies. It addresses the impact on psychiatric graduate programs, the specific needs
of psychiatric nurses, as well as, answers questions to common concerns of online education.
Throughout the journal a top ten list of reasons is given to prove the need for such programs.
With the wake of online education, one graduate program in psychiatric-mental health was
resurrected. “Since the Web-based program was initiated in 2001, the program has grown from six
to twenty four students in three years, and shows promise of attracting even greater numbers of
students in the future”(McGuinness & Noonan 2004, p. 35).
The growing numbers in the program is bound to be linked to the specific needs of graduate
psychiatric nurses being met by the offering of an online program. Though graduate nursing students
are often more mature and motivated for learning, they typically work full time and have the
responsibility of raising their families (McGuinness & Noonan ,2004). As one student said, “I’m glad I
spent my time reading, writing, and studying, rather than commuting” (Mcguinness & Noonan, 2004,
p. 36).
Some common concerns about an online graduate program in psychiatric nursing include the
question of whether students are able to interact as well as they might in a traditional classroom. This
doesn’t seem to be a problem as students “are able to join the virtual classroom at any time and from
any place without missing any of the dialogue in the ongoing discussion” (McGuinness & Noonan, 2004,
p. 36).
Another concern is whether or not the students come out of the program successful in knowledge and
prepared for employment. Again, the results have proven favorable as “all students from the first 2
years of the online program have passed the ANCC psychiatric nurse practitioner certification
examinations, and all have found employment as psychiatric nurse practitioners”(McGuinness &
Noonan, 2004, p.35).
In conclusion, this journal article shows online education, not only benefitting nursing programs,
but also the graduate psychiatric nursing students, themselves. It also eases concerns over potential
online problems, as it shows, by example, that the flexibility for students actually improves outcomes in
student interaction and the overall learning process.
MaHoney, J. (2006). Do you feel like you belong? An on-line versus face-to-face pilot study.
Visions. Retrieved July 11, 2010, from:
http://lawrence.library.astate.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire
ct=true&db=c8h&AN=2009223247&site=ehost-live
A Study on Belonging
Like the age old concern of those being home schooled not benefitting from the social aspects
of public education, comes a new concern regarding belonging, with the surge of online education. The
writer states, “Sense of belonging can be a strong motivational factor needed to successfully complete
an academic course” (Mahoney, 2006, p.18). Whether or not, then, an online course covers all the
academia of a traditional classroom, if the sense of belonging plays a role on students completing the
course successfully, it needs to be addressed. The purpose of this article is to compare online education
with face to face education as it relates to graduate nursing students’ perception on belonging.
A study was conducted using a sample graduate student group from a nursing research class.
Twenty nine of the students took the class in a traditional classroom, and ten of them took the course
online. Upon the completion of the course, they were to complete questionnaires anonymously and two
scales were used to measure the students’ perception on belonging (Mahoney ,2006).
As with the frequent finding of little differences between online and classroom test scores, there was,
“no significant difference in sense of belonging between on-line and face-to-face” (Mahoney, 2006,
p.22).
Numerous ideas from the sample students were offered, in the article, to possibly increase the
sense of belonging for online students. These included adding audio lectures to the material and posting
photos of the professor and classmates. The author admits that the study group was small, and
“perhaps the students in this sample felt a sense of belonging in the venue of their choice,” (Mahoney,
2006, p. 24) and encourages the need for further study in the area.
In conclusion, with the ever increasing option of taking graduate classes online, comes the need
for further exploration of students response to the virtual classroom compared to the traditional
classroom. It also demands an understanding on the part of the professor on how to best communicate
with their students and how to facilitate a sense of belonging amongst classmates.
Fearing, A., & Riley, M. (2005). Graduate students' perceptions on online teaching and relationship to
preferred learning styles. MEDSURG Nursing. Retrieved July 11, 2010 from:
http://lawrence.library.astate.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire
ct=true&db=c8h&AN=2009090415&site=ehost-live
Online Teaching and Preferred Learning Styles
While an educator today might say she is teaching one particular math lesson, she knows that
she will need to present the material in a way that stimulates those with attention deficit disorders,
assists the mentally challenged, and motivates the scholarly students. The same idea holds true of
online professors, who must understand the different learning styles of their students and present their
material in a way that best meets those varied needs. “A gap exists in the research literature pertaining
to the effect of learning styles on undergraduate and graduate nursing students ‘ perceptions of online
instruction despite the rapidly increasing use of this mode” (Fearing & Riley 2005, p. 383-384). The
writers of this article attempt to explain different learning preferences of online students and set out to
discover their views on the way their courses are taught.
A convenience sample was used to study the students’ perceptions based on their learning
styles-auditory, visual, or kinesthetic. Twenty eight nurse educator graduate students, all women, were
selected for the study. They were assessed for their learning style preference before the courses and
were surveyed at midterm and at the end of their courses about various aspects of their educational
experience, including specific feelings regarding their professor and the learning materials (Fearing &
Riley, 2005).
Results of the learning style survey interestingly showed that over ninety percent of those
surveyed preferred a learning style other than simply visual. Many seemed to prefer a combination of
learning styles. Another area of interest was the fact that overwhelmingly students survey scores
improved in favor of the courses in their final assessment over their midterm one. The authors state,
“Overall, results were consistent with current literature indicating positive general student perceptions
of online courses” (Fearing & Riley, 2005, p.389).
In conclusion, the author acknowledges that the sample size was limited and that further studies
should be done to “enhance generalizability” (Fearing & Riley, 2005, p.388). Still, the results proved a
positive perception of online courses, in spite of students’ different learning needs.
Bata-Jones, B., Avery, M. (2004). Teaching pharmacology to graduate nursing students: evaluation and
comparison of web-based and face-to-face methods. Journal of Nursing Education. Retrieved July 11,
2010, from:
http://lawrence.library.astate.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=tru
e&db=c8h&AN=2004090790&site=ehost-live
Web-Based Versus Face to Face Education
New doesn’t always mean better, but neither should it necessarily be looked at as a
passing fad. With the coming of more and more graduate courses online, research is important
to determine its effectiveness. This article sets out to directly compare a pharmacology class
offered both in the classroom and online to determine any differences in the types of students
choosing one over the other and to evaluate their performances in each.
The sample used in the study included fifty two students who took the face-to-face
course and eighteen students who chose the online one. They were both taught by the same
instructor, and neither group of students varied significantly in age or background (Bata-Jones &
Avery, 2004). Results were compared descriptively by student evaluation and “age, years of
nursing practice, and examination scores were compared between the two groups using the
two-tailed t test” (Bata-Jones & Avery, 2004, p.187).
The results of the study found “no significant differences or associations” of the people
who chose the online class versus the classroom setting. Also, the test results from each type of
class were very similar, with scores only differing by a standard deviation of 0.2-0.3. (BataJones & Avery, 2004) The authors admit that “this study was limited,” due to the participants
being able to choose which course they took (Bata-Jones & Avery, 2004). They encourage the
expansion in research of online courses by studies that move beyond comparisons between
online and classroom settings (Bata-Jones & Avery, 2004). Further studies using stratified
samples might prove interesting.
In conclusion, online courses are not only gaining popularity in graduate nursing
programs, they are also standing up to the competition of the time tested classroom. Continued
evaluation will be necessary as potentially larger parts of a student’s college career are
accomplished outside of the traditional classroom.
Huckstadt, A., & Hayes, K. (2005). Evaluation of interactive online courses for advanced practice nurses.
Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. Retrieved July 11, 2010, from:
http://lawrence.library.astate.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire
ct=true&db=c8h&AN=2005083657&site=ehost-live
Evaluating Web-Based Graduate Courses
It’s been said that experience is the best teacher. This is especially true in nursing, where on the
job training is crucial to bridging the gap between theory and reality, and where new medications,
equipment, and practices are frequently implemented. The rise of online graduate nursing courses
brings a world of current information and tools to the students’ laptops. The purpose of this article is to
assess the adequacy of online education and to reveal graduate nurses’ opinions about this
contemporary way of taking courses.
The sample used in this study included seventy three registered nurses from around the country
and internationally. The study group was widely female and had an age range of thirty four years. A pre
and post test of two particular studies, “Acute Low Back Pain” and “Common Dermatological Problems
in Primary Care,” was used to weigh learning of the material and a survey was given to the students to
obtain their opinions on “strengths and weakness of online learning” (Huckstadt & Hayes, 2005, p.85).
The results of the study showed convincing improvements in students’ scores from the pre test
to the post test, indicating effective learning online. Also, a large amount of positive feedback was
obtained on the surveys. “Learners particularly liked the interactive case study approach, use of graphics
and the extensive links to other quality website. Learners believed the learned more in these online
courses than in courses taught in a traditional method” (Huckstadt & Hayes 2005, p. 88). Some of the
negative feedback had to do with logistical problems, such as expired links, and other disappointments
had to do with lack of “immediate explanation for test items missed” (Huckstadt & Hayes 2005, p.88).
In conclusion, online education appears to be a positive way to enhance learning in graduate
nursing programs, as well as offering convenience of scheduling to their career students. Keeping
information current in healthcare will require frequent monitoring and updating of online sites by
instructors. The authors recommend further studies “to examine how online teaching impacts faculty
workload.” (Huckstadt & Hayes, 2005, p.88).