NUR 5032

1. Chapter 32
Evaluating a Program’s Teaching
Resources

2. Evaluating a Program’s
Teaching Resources
• Context
• Teaching Resources
• Theoretical Framework
• Evaluation Process
• Evaluation Resources, Not Learning
• Future Challenges
• Conclusion

3. Evaluating a Program’s
Teaching Resources
• The evaluation of teaching resources—the
resources that exist to support an academic
program—must be part of a holistic,
systematic, and ongoing evaluation.
• Program evaluation - “the process of weighing,
interpreting, and subsequently making
judgments about data collected from multiple
components of education programming”

4. Context
• Nursing and other professional health
sciences programs exist within a larger
context that has changed dramatically in
recent years.
• New legislation is changing the work
environment for health care jobs
– Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
– Health Information Technology for
Economic and Clinical Health Act

5. Context
• Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
– Addresses faculty shortages through raising
funding caps, supporting faculty and student
loans programs, including an emphasis on
diversity, updating the Nurse Education,
Practice and Retention grant program
– Students need to be prepared for an
increased number of patients as health care
becomes more accessible and care models in
hospitals and community health settings
change.

6. Context
• Health Information Technology for
Economic and Clinical Health Act
– Calls for the implementation of electronic
health records (EHR) and the achievement
of their meaningful use
– Programs must train students to be
proficient EHR users, to be comfortable
integrating technology into practice, and to
understand meaningful use standards so
that they can help achieve those goals and
improve quality of care.

7. Context
• Program evaluation must also examine
how and if multiple learning styles are
addressed, how they are reflected in
student learning outcomes, and how
programs support faculty members’
continued professional development
around teaching techniques.

8. Teaching Resources
• What resources contribute to the curricular
implementation?
• What features of the physical facilities were
conductive to learning?
• What presented barriers/challenges?

9. Teaching Resources
• Resource categories
– Physical
– Simulation/clinical
– Technology
– Online
– Curriculum/teaching
• Before it can be evaluated, a program must
define and articulate its resources, map them
to course and curricular goals, and describe at
which level they currently exist.

10. Theoretical Framework
• Strategic mission statements and
learning outcomes set the standards that
a program aspires to meet.
• Once the program being evaluated has
clear strategic goals, a theoretic
framework on which to base the
evaluation process can be chosen.

11. Theoretical Framework
• Questions to ask at start any evaluation
process
– What do we want to know?
– Why do we want to know it?
– What should we measure?
– How should we measure it?
– Once these questions are answered a more
in-depth theoretical model can be chosen as
a framework.

12. Theoretical Framework
• Resources are one aspect of Kalb’s
(2009) three Cs model, which is designed
as a comprehensive method to evaluate a
program based on NLNAC accreditation
standards.
– Weaves together context, content, and
conduct; maps them to the NLNAC
standards; and from there maps them back
to foundational documents

13. Theoretical Framework
• Matthiesen and Wilhelm (2006) use a case
study approach to argue that evaluation should
not limit its scope solely to the curriculum, but
rather should be an ongoing and systematic
view of the program and the core components
required by multiple accreditation bodies,
licensure, and certification boards.

14. Theoretical Framework
• Instead of simply asking if the following
aspects are present in a course, Schug (2012)
recommends evaluating which resources are
available to faculty and students to best
facilitate the creation, maintenance, use, or
understanding of:
• Course objectives
• Curricular threads
• Course content
• Schedule

15. Theoretical Framework
• Instead of simply asking if the following
aspects are present in a course, Schug (2012)
recommends evaluating which resources are
available to faculty and students to best
facilitate the creation, maintenance, use, or
understanding of:
• Teaching and learning strategies
• Evaluation of student performance
• Textbooks/library holdings

16. Theoretical Framework
• Instead of simply asking if the following
aspects are present in a course, Schug (2012)
recommends evaluating which resources are
available to faculty and students to best
facilitate the creation, maintenance, use, or
understanding of:
• Student evaluations of the course
• Accrediting standards
• Liberal arts requirements

17. Evaluation Process
• One method to help jump-start the evaluation
process is to consider the program through the
eyes of a new faculty member or student.
• Accreditation visits can be the catalyst for
ongoing program evaluation
• A comprehensive evaluation plan can combine
theoretical elements from the systematic
approach of Hamner & Bentley (2003) and the
ongoing schedule of Gard and colleagues
(2004).

18. Evaluation Process
• Hamner & Bentley’s (2003) matrix includes
space for the resource being evaluated,
supporting documentation, the person
responsible, the evaluation method, the
evaluation standard, the committee findings,
and the committee’s recommendations for
action.

19. Evaluation Process
• Gard and colleagues’ (2004) schedule
recommends planning the process in August,
reviewing the existing documentation during
the fall semester, focusing on the resources in
the latter half of it, and collecting course
evaluation data at the end

20. Evaluation Process
• As a program initiates an evaluation process, it
is essential to connect to the departmental,
school, and institutional strategic planning
processes so that the evaluation has a clear
purpose and so that at the end of an evaluation
cycle it is easy to report and connect the work
of a single program to the vision of the larger
institution.

21. Evaluating Resources, Not
Learning
• Evaluating student learning is part of program
evaluation, but when taking a holistic approach
to evaluation, the measure of a program does
not rest solely on students, but rather on all
the elements that come together to create an
environment that facilitates and encourages
learning—one that is supported by teaching
resources.

22. Future Challenges
• Nursing and professional health sciences
programs are exploring interprofessional
learning opportunities—in classrooms, clinical
training settings, and community settings.
• As these interprofessional plans solidify, all the
academic programs involved must ensure that
they are held to the same evaluation standards
as all of the other program elements.

23. Future Challenges
• Interprofessional learning opportunities may
also require different or additional teaching
resources, so as these opportunities grow,
faculty will need to look closely at their
programs to ensure the resources are still
meeting the program’s needs.
• As programs consider moving more teaching
to blended or fully online formats, they must
continue to evaluate resources, outcomes, and
students against the same standard used for
in-person programs.

24. Conclusion
• Once a program evaluation becomes an
ongoing process, the findings and
recommendations for changes to teaching
resources may seem overwhelming and
challenging to implement.
• Scaling efforts acknowledge that faculty and
staff have limited amounts of time in which to
participate in evaluation efforts and program
reviews on top of their existing teaching,
service, and clinical responsibilities.

25. Conclusion
• Evidence-based decisions are a driving force in
health care and healthcare education today.
• Ensuring that the same evidence-based mind-
set is also applied to the teaching resources
that are being using to prepare the next
generation of healthcare providers is a natural
and essential step of the process.