List of Titles

Are nurse academics technology ready? A mixed methods study of Australian nurse academics’ attitudes to technologies in teaching

- Browning, Mark

Authors: Browning, Mark
Date: 2022
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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Description: Technology use in higher education teaching has become widespread and ubiquitous, affecting many areas of teaching and learning (Bond et al., 2020). Nurse education has been impacted by this shift with increasing use of technologies in the classroom (Koch, 2014). Although there has been a large research focus relating to students’ elearning, there has been less focus on the academic and their elearning role, in particular, how academic attitudes influence technology use in teaching (Drysdale et al., 2013; Martin, Polly, et al., 2020). The aim of this study was to explore nurse academics’ attitudes to technology and the influence attitude has on their use of technologies in teaching. There were three objectives: 1) To investigate nurse academics’ attitudes to technology through the Technology Readiness Index 2.0 (TRI 2). 2) To develop an understanding of how and why nurse academics engage with technology through individual interviews. 3) To integrate the quantitative (Objective 1) and qualitative (Objective 2) findings in order to gain a holistic understanding of academics’ use of technologies in teaching. A mixed methods sequential explanatory design consisting of two phases was used to address the aim. The first phase was a survey based on a previously validated, 16 item questionnaire, the Technology Readiness Index 2.0 (TRI 2), which was distributed to Australian nurse academics. The second phase included semi-structured individual interviews focussed on academics’ use and attitudes to technology, incorporating elements from the survey. The Technology Readiness Index 2.0 (TRI 2) was used in this study for the first time with nurse academics. The phase one findings indicate that nurse academics were technology ready, had higher overall TRI mean score than the general population (Parasuraman & Colby, 2015), but with similar outcomes to previous nurse academic research. Of note was that TRI was significantly associated with frequency of technology use, number of technologies used and self-rated confidence to use technology. The findings revealed three main Technology Readiness groups, representing three attitudes to technology in teaching: Explorers, Sceptics and Hesitators. Explorers were found to be innovative, positive and confident in their use of technology; Sceptics showed aversion to technology, were cautious when considering the impact on pedagogy and concerned about the impact on interpersonal skills; Hesitators showed preference for traditional teaching and distrust and were anxious about technology use. Overall, attitudes were found to be complex, based on experience and the potential impact technology may have on nursing students. The groups identified in this thesis explain behaviours and enable institutes to support academics in their engagement with technology. Recommendations include flexible training to meet the needs of academics, the use of simple and reliable technology across TR groups and adjusting workloads to account for the time-consuming nature of technology. There is also a need for academics to consider their attitudes to technology and the impact this may have on their teaching. This thesis demonstrates that technology engagement is not a binary choice but a complex process based on attitudes and other factors.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Supporting nursing student supervision: An assessment of an innovative approach to supervisor support

- Browning, Mark, Pront, Leeanne

Authors: Browning, Mark , Pront, Leeanne
Date: 2015
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Nurse Education Today Vol. 35, no. 6 (2015/06/01/ 2015), p. 740-745
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Description: Summary The responsibility for clinical supervision is recognised by both the nursing literature and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council, through an expectation that RNs will provide support and facilitate student learning in the clinical environment (Atack et al., 2000; Gray and Smith, 2000; Brammer, 2005; Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2006; Hallin and Danielson, 2008). RNs identify with and acknowledge the need for the supervisory role and are willing participants however, request strategies to guide and support students in the clinical environment (Bourbonnais and Kerr, 2007, Hallin and Danielson, 2008). Objectives The aim of this study was to provide a means of support to clinical supervisors of nursing students through a computer-based clinical supervisor educational package (CSEP) and to test the effectiveness of the CSEP. Design The effectiveness of the CSEP was determined by a pre-test–post-test evaluation sheet that included open and Likert scale questions. Settings 4 regional hospitals in South Australia, Australia. Participants 28 participants completed the questionnaire on their experience with the CSEP. Methods Analysis of quantitative data utilised non-parametric testing with SPSS version 20. A Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test was performed on the Likert scale questions to establish any significant difference between the pre- and post-tests. The responses to the open-ended questions were thematically analysed separately by the two authors. The themes were then amalgamated. The results were then compared to find similarities or differences. Conclusions The CSEP is an effective education package in promoting increased preparedness to supervise and increased confidence to promote learning.

Preparing nursing students for the future: development and implementation of an Australian Bachelor of Nursing program with a community health focus

- Cooper, Simon J., Cant, Robyn, Browning, Mark, Robinson, Eddie

Authors: Cooper, Simon J. , Cant, Robyn , Browning, Mark , Robinson, Eddie
Date: 2015
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Contemporary Nurse: A Journal for the Australian Nursing Profession Vol. 49, no. (2015), p. 68-74
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Description: This paper focuses on changes in the educational preparation of undergraduate nurses in line with contemporary primary and preventative healthcare models. We evaluated a new Australian nursing and community care degree programme using focus groups with 38 students in their first years of study, and quantitative performance data (regarding entry, performance and course attrition). Four main themes were identified related to students’ course experience: ‘I think community health should be an elective’; ‘Focus on relevance to practice’; ‘Teaching by non-nursing academics’ and ‘Access to support during transition to university.’ Overall pass rates were 94% (first year) and 97% (second year) with a low 11% attrition rate. We conclude that based on prior experiences and stereotypical views, students may be ambivalent about the inclusion of primary and preventative care models which nevertheless are essential to enhance practice and to prepare the future nursing workforce

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The impact of COVID 19 restrictions on Australian nurse academics attitudes to technology : a survey of technology readiness index 2.0

- Browning, Mark, Banik, Biswajit, Bourke, Sharon, Abdelkader, Amany, Anish, Ligi, Muduwa, Miriam

Authors: Browning, Mark , Banik, Biswajit , Bourke, Sharon , Abdelkader, Amany , Anish, Ligi , Muduwa, Miriam
Date: 2023
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: Nurse Education in Practice Vol. 71, no. (2023), p.
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Description: Aim: This study aimed to determine the attitude of Australian nursing lecturers to the use of technology applied to the teaching and learning of nursing students. Background: The use of technology in teaching was accelerated in reaction to the COVID-19 restrictions whereby measures, including social distancing and lockdowns, forced many higher education courses to transition online. Lecturers play a key role in the integration of technology in teaching, as it is the lecturer, not the technology, who facilitates the students’ learning experience. Design: A cross sectional survey design was used for this study, distributed from April to June of 2022. The purpose of the survey was to gather technology readiness data (via the TRI 2 questions) and descriptive data representative of the nursing academic population in Australia. Results: There was no statistically significant differences between participants based on demographic data (such as gender or age). There was an association between TRI 2 score and: the sum of elearning technologies engaged with; the frequency of engagement with technology and self-rated confidence with elearning. Of note were statistically significant differences of TRI between states/territories. Finally, there was an inverse relationship between the impact of COVID-19 restrictions and TRI 2 score. Conclusion: The study found that there was significant variation between states/territories and self-reported impact of TRI. Given that increased frequency and increased number of technologies engaged with are associated with technology readiness the variation between states/territories lockdowns which required engagement with technology, may have had an impact on the nursing academics attitude to technology. Importantly, this study found those who were highly technology ready found COVID-19 restrictions had less impact on them, suggesting that technology readiness may have assisted their transition to online learning. © 2023 The Authors

Developing situation awareness amongst nursing and paramedicine students utilising eye tracking technology and video debriefing techniques: a proof of concept paper.

- O'Meara, Peter, Munro, Graham, Williams, Brett, Cooper, Simon J., Bogossian, Fiona, Ross, Linda, Sparkes, Louise, Browning, Mark, McCounan, Mariah

Authors: O'Meara, Peter , Munro, Graham , Williams, Brett , Cooper, Simon J. , Bogossian, Fiona , Ross, Linda , Sparkes, Louise , Browning, Mark , McCounan, Mariah
Date: 2015
Type: Text , Journal article
Relation: International Emergency Nursing Vol. 23, no. 2 (2015), p. 94-99
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Description: Objective The aims of this quasi-experimental before-and-after study were to first determine whether the use of eye tracking technology combined with video debriefing techniques has the potential to improve the quality of feedback and enhance situation awareness (SA) in simulated settings and second to determine students' satisfaction towards simulated learning. Methods Nursing and paramedicine students from three universities participated in three 8-minute simulation scenarios of acutely deteriorating patients. Eye tracking glasses video recorded the scenarios and tracked right eye movement. On completion, participants were questioned using the Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique, completed the Satisfaction with Simulation Experience Scale (SSES), and provided textual feedback and received video-based verbal feedback. Results Participants lacked awareness of presenting medical conditions and patient environments and had poor recall of patient vital signs. Significant improvements in SA scores were demonstrated between the first and third scenarios (P = 0.04). Participants reported greater insight into their performance and were satisfied with simulated learning. Conclusions Use of visual field review techniques appears to enhance the use of realistic simulated practice as a means of addressing significant performance deficits. Eye tracking and point of view recording techniques are feasible and with applicable debriefing techniques could enhance clinical and situated performance.

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