Name
Capella University
NURS-FPX6111: Assessment and Evaluation in Nursing Education
Instructor’s Name
October 2024
Program Effectiveness Presentation
Slide 1: Hi there, my name is _____. I would like to present the application of a systematic approach to evaluate the feasibility of a newly developed nursing course.
Slide 2: According to the above-said scheme, it will be possible to assess the effectiveness of the Advanced Pediatric Nursing course because it comprises various kinds of assessment and philosophical orientations (Doyle et al., 2020). This assessment framework hopes to improve education effectiveness and guarantee graduating students safer employment in professional pediatric nursing. It also provides data evaluation, evidence-based practice, and more importantly, the practice of continuous improvement.
Slide 3:
Purpose
This presentation aims to explain an action plan to be implemented to assess the efficacy of a newly developed course in Advanced Pediatric Nursing in raising completion rates among the program’s qualified nurses on the curve of the nursing curriculum (Pullyblank, 2023). Although the completion of an alignment matrix is only a brief activity, the process of monitoring and evaluating the alignment of a course to learning objectives and program outcomes provides disclosure of the effects of the course on another objective of establishing the intended student learning achievement and program quality to the stakeholders (Pullyblank, 2023). The purpose is to show how accurate measurement methods can contribute effective and continued enhancement of the students’ outcomes and their course programs, enhancing the overall learning process and offering nurse residents paid job opportunities in pediatric nursing.
Slide 4:
Philosophical Approaches to Evaluation
Some philosophical assumptions or premises, which are central in assessments of learning institutions, include the following: So, these philosophical positions provide a conceptual lens to comprehend assessment purpose and procedures to ensure that they correlate with educational aims and principles.
Positivist Approach
Consequently, the positivist method is interested in examining the numerical or numeric outcomes in educational achievements and assessments, and testing and statistical scores. The primary assumption is that one can use scientific or positivist techniques in the discovery of ontological facts about the world and therefore get detached truth (Mayumi & Ota, 2023). In assessing the education programs, positivist approaches are keen on efficiency parameters – performance measures given by production rates such as test and graduation results.
Constructivist Approach
The knowledge among students is constructed depending on the environment by constructivists. Therefore, evaluation must begin involving the processes of how such significance is constructed as well as how skills are created among students (Andrews et al., 2020). Because of this, the utilized research methods in this approach include observation, interviews, and reflective journals that are used to find context quantity-based information about the experiences of the learners.
Slide 5:
Pragmatic Approach
More than the constructivist and positivist strands of the paradigm, but closer to them, the pragmatic paradigm of assessment plays the importance of practicality of the assessment & utility of the evaluation data (Metelski et al., 2021). As the pragmatists claim, the primary purpose of the evaluation is to add value to the educational practice and contribute to decision-making. Broadly, this technique is either a qualitative or quantitative technique based on the given circumstances and the general aim of the evaluation.
Transformative Approach
When viewed as a method stemming from social justice, the transformative method of evaluation’s purpose in education is to correct matters of power. For this reason, it enshrines the use of participatory methods so that stakeholders especially marginal issues are involved in the review (Safari et al., 2023). As such, assessment for transformative evaluators is a way for achieving social change and one has to hear and acknowledge the opinions and the stories of the participants in order to enhance their change potential.
Evaluating the Evidence
However, it could be noted that a relative amount of evidence is provided for each of the approaches to appraisal outlined using philosophical approaches. As much as positivist methods generate consistent and numerical results, some of these strategies could exclude the qualitative context of learning (Reid et al., 2021). Nevertheless, constructivist approaches have some issues that relate to the questions of dependability, and, at the same time, they help to disclose certain deep layers of the learning process. Exploratory as well as transformation techniques help inequality as well as value range However these must invariably call for a massive contribution from the various stakeholders to participate.
Slide 6:
Program Evaluation Process
Define Evaluation Goals and Objectives
Nurses who decide to evaluate their programs should do it in a manner that fails to capture all the program functions. The initial stage in the process is defining the goal of the evaluation as well as the objectives of the given exercise (Hamilton et al., 2020). Since goal setting entails formulating aspirations and achievable objectives, it assists in providing direction on where to focus the assessment and creates consistency during the exercise on what all the stakeholders expect to be achieved at the end of the process.
Engage Stakeholders
The next useful action is the mobilization of the support base of the project, which, for example, may include instructors, administrators, students, and other organizational stakeholders (Levy et al., 2022). Stakeholding becomes inevitable since they participate in the development of the framework to be used for the evaluation and stand to gain with a prior guaranteed satisfaction of all their needs and concerns. The involvement of stakeholders in the process is more desirable from the very start as this enhances embracing and advertising the results of the assessment.
Develop an Evaluation Plan
This payment is followed by the development of an elaborate evaluation strategy for stakeholder participation (Collins et al., 2020). This section holds information about the assessment methods, data collection procedures, timelines, and responsibilities. It has to be in harmony with the stated goals and objectives.
Collect Data
The following process after analysis is data collection which entails the collection of different types of information such as questionnaires, interviews, observation, and formative and summative (Collins et al., 2020). They offer information, which can be used to define the efficiency of the program. Collecting data in multiple ways makes it possible to get a more comprehensive view of the program’s activity and its achievements and issues.
Analyze Data
Data analysis is the process that follows data collection. Both quantitative and qualitative research approaches are also used to make sure that quality and relevant results are achieved (Welch & Smith, 2022). The analysis stage is important in decision-making mainly because this stage draws information from raw data.
Report Findings
The next valuable step is to provide the data result that would be gained in the course of analysis. The results are then tabulated into a very large document which may be used to justify the success of the scheme (Fowler et al., 2021). This report should be easily comprehensible to all; the sections of this report should highlight the key findings and suggestions. It also becomes appropriate to ensure that the findings of the assessments are availed to the stakeholders in a manner that will facilitate appreciation of the needed corrective measures.
Implement Recommendations
Recommendations regarding the enhancement of the program are made and effected depending on the undertaken review. In this step, implementation occurs where how different strategies have been developed are followed to achieve the goals of the program as well as the duties related to implementing change are assigned (Park et al., 2023). To ensure that the program improvement continues and that the student success rate increases, further recommendation implementations are valuable based on the assessment data collected.
Monitor and Review Changes
These enhancements also remain durable because the organizational processes are reviewed and observed based on some calendar schedule (Park et al., 2023). It also means carrying on inspection to determine if more changes are required to sustain the cycles of improvement.
Slide 7:
Limitations of the Program Evaluation Process
Procedures are essential in an organization, but there is always an objective limitation when it comes to future program assessment. Another weakness is the impact of poorly defined objectives and aims can lead to a long string or big and broad evaluation agenda (Mayumi & Ota, 2023). However, in some situations, the implementation of the stakeholders’ involvement might be very time-consuming and the management of the conflicts of interest might be problematic. However, establishing a good plan for the review is a tedious process that requires a lot of resources and may be challenging to determine that there’s enough variability injected into the plan to handle any contingencies.
This is because the amount of personnel time and financial resources available may constrain the type and scope of data-gathering activities that can be conducted; it may be difficult to determine the legal propriety of data obtained from varied sources (Pullyblank, 2023). There were cases where conclusions in data interpretation could be erroneous as a result of interpretation bias, which calls for the entrenchment of statistical and qualitative analytic skills.
Slide 8:
Evaluation Design
Information from program evaluation that is known as Context, Input, Process, and Product (CIPP) can be used to the improvement of nursing education. It also serves to satisfy program enhancement as it catalogs program segments for ongoing evaluation.
Context evaluation
In the context evaluation component, the concerns, objectives, and objectives of the nursing program are made. Contextual evaluation is the process of identifying a set of parameters that characterize the program and assessment of the internal and external environment (Metelski et al., 2021). This stage allows one to determine whether the goals of this program are appropriate to the needs of the teachers, the students, and the healthcare institutions. An example of context assessment in an APN course is the identification of Practice knowledge and skills that are pertinent to pediatric healthcare practitioners and the general course objectives that are required.
Input Evaluation
In this criteria, benchmarks assess instruments, techniques, and systems used in the overall accomplishment of the program goals. This involves evaluating the course content, method of teaching, human resources, and the tools and infrastructure used (Hamilton et al., 2020). In this way, teachers make it possible to see whether the program is well equipped to achieve the laid down goals depending on the assessment of these inputs. For instance, an input review may consider how well-qualified the faculties teaching pediatric nursing are, and how effectively, the clinical simulation was run.
Process Evaluation
A very important aspect of process evaluation was activity monitoring to check on the status of the program’s implementation. This involves supervision of teaching-learning processes that take place in classrooms, observation of clinical practices, and other teaching practices (Collins et al., 2020). Its usefulness is in recognizing any deviations from the planned activities because process review creates chances for correction.
Product Evaluation
This section features the outcome and defines if the goal and objectives of the program have been met. Some methods of assessing a product are exam results, the student’s feedback, and, graduates’ performance in clinical settings (Safari et al., 2023). For instance, the assessment of nursing graduates concerning the quality of pediatric care provided and the putting to practice of evidence-based procedures.
Slide 9:
Limitations of the CIPP Model
First of all, difficulties occur in thin-budgeted and staffed programs, the most common of which stem from the model’s intricacies and requirements for extensive amounts of time, people, and money (Safari et al., 2023). However, the process of data collection and data analysis for each of the components of the model can at times be herculean since knowledge is required to ensure that the data gathered is valid. Engaging stakeholders is vital, to begin with, as they will bring in their perceptions that can cause resistance or conflict (Welch & Smith, 2022). This implies that if the results are actualized through changes based on the existing evaluations may be faced with challenges like; institutional or faculty resistance Secondly, any related efforts at maintaining steady, consistent follow-up and continued processes of monitoring and improving create additional complications within the field of education which is dynamically dynamic.
Slide 10:
Data Analysis for Ongoing Program Improvements
The Role of Data Analysis in Program Improvement
In the context of nursing education Data analysis is useful in monitoring how students are performing, reviewing the strategies deployed in learning, and Establishing the effects of change in curriculum (Park et al., 2023). Therefore, the types of the obtained results, degrees of achievement, possible areas of their strengthening or further development, and obvious patterns may be defined by educators. This makes it easier to address individual areas of need contributing positively to the improvement of the delivery of the programme and the results achieved.
For instance, the trends are associated with the test results, the performance in the clinical simulation, and/or reflective tasks (Fowler et al., 2021). More extra teaching aid or change in the curriculum may be required if many students are performing poorly in, for example, pediatric assessment or evidence-based client care.
Data-Driven Decision Making
It also assists in the decision-making process in the process of the program enhancement is constant. Thus, by making effective use of statistical software and tools, educators can conduct educational research studies contributing to the choices made on strategic levels (Fowler et al., 2021). For example, in the case of regression analysis, the key elements such as, what mode of teaching and which elements are most effective in terms of promoting student achievement or availability of certain teaching aids, can be easily pointed out as the devices that contribute most.
Moreover, the retention of data tracking in a longitudinal manner facilitates qualitative analysis of change that may have been made in the programs over a certain period. The outcomes achieved by the interventions can thus be ascertained by teachers concerning the cohort before the introduction of a new curriculum or learning model (Levy et al., 2022). It guarantees that substantial figures support innovations and that changes can be made promptly in case of the appearance of new concerns.
Enhancing Teaching and Learning
Data analysis also contributes to enhancing teaching and learning by pinpointing domains for faculty development and appropriate instructional practices. For example, data can demonstrate which case studies or simulation exercises foster enhanced clinical reasoning and critical thinking skills (Metelski et al., 2021). They can be used to enhance the teaching practices and design of the professional learning experiences for the faculties.
It can also be used to anticipate children who are at risk of low performance or even dropping out of school (Andrews et al., 2020). Teachers can use records of truancy, engagement, and academic performance to develop response plans that will trigger referrals to tutoring, counseling, etc to target needy kids.
Slide 11:
Knowledge Gaps and Areas of Uncertainty
While quantitative data offers measures where with which to compare and measure progress, qualitative data offers words and descriptions needed to put findings into context. Developing effective methods for aggregating and assessing these many forms of data remains a challenge (Andrews et al., 2020). Additional unpredictability comes from uncertainty on how outside variables define program results and student performance. Socio-demographic characteristics and educational background have been known to influence learning significantly; however, they are not easy to quantify and control in analyses (Doyle et al., 2020). This is an indication that more detailed and comprehensive local data collection and better analytical tools are required to understand the extent and nature of such influences.
Slide 12:
NURS FPX 6111 Assessment 4 Conclusion
The attendees of this talk have been given an orderly way of assessing the feasibility of the Advanced Pediatric Nursing course while stressing the need to ensure the type of test used tallies with the outcomes or the learning activities set in the course (Thrower et al., 2020). Ideological approaches and pilot solutions can be used to tell the stakeholders about its relevance for students and value for the program. The proactive approach enhances program retention and success rates of a program, as well as the outcome of every student involved.
NURS FPX 6111 Assessment 4 References
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Collins, E., Owen, P., Digan, J., & Dunn, F. (2020). Applying transformational leadership in nursing practice. Nursing Standard (Royal College of Nursing (Great Britain): 1987), 35(5), 59–66. https://doi.org/10.7748/ns.2019.e11408
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