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Using web-based supports to transition students to professional roles

Proceeding

Abstract

Many college curriculums include an educational component requiring practice of knowledge and skills in real world work environments with supervision. These may be known as pre-service, fieldwork, internship, residency, or other descriptors according to the discipline. Students often experience high levels of anxiety about transitioning to these new professional roles. The quality and quantity of on-site supports available to individual students vary with each placement.

A web-based support course was designed to assist students with the transition from student role in an academic environment to entry level professional role in the work environment. Participation in the course was voluntary and no grades were assigned. Students were invited to participate as needed with their classmates to share resources and information. Resources were provided asynchronously so students could access them whenever and wherever they could gain access to the Internet to log on to the course.

Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data was conducted. Data analysis included frequency of participation in the course, the emerging themes discussed in the course, outcome measurements for student performance, and student perceptions based on participation in the course.

The information gained during this exploratory study would be useful to assist other faculty in developing similar web-based support courses. Faculty will gain an awareness of the preparation for and possibilities of using web-based instruction. The web-based participation developed in this course may encourage students to later participate in professional web-based discussions and chats related to their professional associations and/or to be more comfortable in another web-based course.

Introduction

The primary objective of most college and university programs is to provide an appropriate education to enable students to successfully enter the work force in professional roles. The change from classroom-based coursework to real life practice-based work is often a stressful experience for students. Academic success does not provide predictability of success in the work place. Many academic programs include a transitional educational component (for example student teaching, medical internships, and therapeutic fieldwork experiences) where students practice application of their new knowledge and are given feedback about their performance from an on-site professional supervisor. It is hoped that these experiences help students further develop their critical thinking skills as well as their professional behaviors in preparation for their career success.

The demands placed on the students to perform successfully in real life environments create new challenges and increases their stress. The thought of working with “real clients or students ” while exciting, can be overwhelming to some students. Real world environments present new communication and cultural issues for students to consider. Students may be anxious about confronting the unknown, fear of making errors, unpredictable and stressful situations, and jeopardizing the patient/client relationship (Wong & Wong, 1987). Additionally there is anxiety about the unknown expectations of the on site supervisor. Nursing students surveyed about stress indicated that 67% report being observed by instructors was anxiety producing (Kleehammer, Hart, & Kleck, 1990). Additionally, students may feel vulnerable to the subjective nature of the student/supervisor relationship (Barr, 1980). Students suddenly feel less confident in their knowledge and skills as they anticipate what will be expected of them. Some students also must geographically relocate to complete this component of their education. The change of address, change in performance expectations, and separation from friends and family members can be overwhelming to some students. The separation from classmates, who may have provided support and collaborative ideas, is hard for some students. The resources that were at the students’ fingertips during the academic program may not be readily available in rural sites. All the realities of the professional responsibilities creep into place. The students strive to attain professional behaviors when they are feeling vulnerable and challenged. Many seek to establish rapport with the on site supervisor and may have difficulty separating the supervisory process from friendship.

Carefully examine the issues that your particular students may be facing when completing this part of their educational program. Identifying the stressors and needs of the students is the first step. Once the needs assessment is complete then you can determine possible solutions. Web-based instruction is one option you may consider. Web-based environments are computer based, interactive, non-linear, and multimedia. Web-based instruction allows for creation of interactive learning environments. It allows for interaction between faculty and students, students with students, and can direct students to electronic journals, databases, and multimedia resources (Moore, 1991; Song, 2000). This allows the students to access information as needed, by pass information that is not needed, and direct his/her own learning to access resources and supports within the web design. Learners can study in non-traditional environments on their own schedules, at their convenience.

When considering a web-based course for students you must consider two areas very carefully. Barrow, Jeong, and Parks (1996) contend that accessibility to computers and knowledge of using computers are factors that need to be addressed when examining a distance education component. They recommend including computer skills into the curriculum to assist the students in gaining these skills. In order, for the web-based course to be convenient for the student, the student must have regular access to a computer, preferably for some amount of uninterrupted time. They need to know how to access the internet, log on and off the system you will use, send and receive e-mail with attachments, and know the basics for communicating asynchronously.

Another factor to consider is the expertise of the faculty and the resources your university provides to faculty. The first time a web- based course is developed, it will take up a considerable amount of time from the faculty member. Resources for back up supports in case of technological problems both for the instructor and the student are essential. Instructors should specify the technological requirements at the onset of the course for students and arrange for technological support to minimize student distress (Essex & Cagiltay, 2001). Technological limitations noted in the literature include limited availability of hardware and software, unreliable Internet providers, and incompatible files (Cornell, 1999, Wiens & Gunter, 1998). The faculty must acquire new knowledge and skills to shift roles to a facilitator of the learning process rather than a content expert (Brill, 2001).

A joint venture between the Institute for Higher Education Policy, the National Education Association, and Blackboard, Inc. has identified benchmarks to ensure excellence in Internet based distance learning (National Education Association, 2000). They include the areas of institutional support, course development, teaching/learning, course structure, student support, faculty support and evaluation and assessment. Faculty should utilize these benchmarks when creating a web-based course.

The University of South Alabama, Department of Occupational Therapy decided to offer an optional web-based support course for occupational therapy students who leave campus to complete two, three-month rotations of clinical fieldwork. First computer accessibility was determined by having each student complete a questionnaire. All students reported they had access to a computer with Internet. Second, computer skills were considered adequate since all students completed two required computer courses during their academic program. The next consideration was the content of the course. Students completed questionnaires that asked them to rank order the content and supports they wanted provided by the web-based course. The web-based support course was created with the following information considered:

1. Asynchronous communication would be used to allow time and flexibility in communication since students were on various work schedules and in different time zones,
2. A list serve group that was free was used to allow communication to everyone, minimize costs, and allow for restricted membership,
3. Students were granted freedom to communicate and discuss cases and experiences surrounding the fieldwork experiences with each other and with the faculty,
4. Students were interested in sharing information with each other that included good web sites, documentation samples, and time management strategies, and
5. Students wanted positive inspirational saying to keep them motivated during this experience and help them feel less stressed and less isolated from each other.

Sharing of the URL addresses for good informative websites so classmates could check them out.
This data is supportive that the format of a web-based course was able to provide the students with additional information, support and encouragement for success on fieldwork, calendar reminders of deadlines, and use of the web for expanding educational opportunities.

The negatives

One issue that arose was the limited participation and lack of participation by some classmates. This made some students feel like they were contributing and doing more for their classmates than they were getting back in return. Unfortunately there was some truth to this, since participation was voluntary, and some offered much more to their classmates than others. Others reported missing the classmates that were not participating. Other reported negatives consisted of time limitations to read all the e-mail messages, technology problems (difficulty accessing the links, lack of internet access), and individual replies that were broadcast to all group members.

A variety of technological skills and hardware made it difficult for some students to access the links section and files section of the course. To accommodate these individuals, we did a dual posting. Web sites were posted in an e-mail message so these students could receive them, then placed in the links folders. A questionnaire was placed in the file section of the course, and since some students could not open it, it was sent out in the body of e-mail as well. It seems we were able to accommodate these individuals well.

Outcomes Measure

There were twenty-one students who completed the three-month clinical fieldwork during the Fall 2000 semester. Two other students who participated in the course were on alternative schedules. Each of the twenty-one students (100%) passed their first clinical rotation. The mean scores as recorded by the standard form the Fieldwork Evaluation Form for the Occupational Therapist (FWE) for the Class of 2001 ( AOTA, 1987) are compared to the means of previous years (See Figure 1). The class that participated in the web-based support course (Class of 2001) was more successful than the previous year. The scores in all three areas- performance, judgement and attitude showed marked improvements. The mean scores are moving up higher and closer to scores achieved by some of the previous classes. This is exactly what we hoped to achieve.

Post-Questionnaires

At completion of the Fall On-Line Course, students were asked to complete a questionnaire about their experiences. Nine students out of the eighteen participants (50%) responded to the questionnaire. The students were asked in December if they wanted to keep the web-based support course going for the next three months while they were at their second clinical fieldwork. The overwhelming response was yes! One student who was not able to send e-mail called to inform me she was benefiting from receiving the e-mail information. A couple other students called to say they were looking forward to being able to join in since at their next site they would be able to have their computers and wanted to participate. We agreed to keep the on-line support course in place for spring 2001. The students reported the most helpful components of the web-based course to be:

• 100% reported feeling more connected with the USA-OT Department and their classmates via the on-line support course.
• 75% links to educational and informative sites
• 50% ideas and suggestions from classmates
• 50% hearing about other classmates experiences at sites
• 25% staying in touch/support with classmates
• 25% calendar date reminders

Additionally the students made suggestions to include the following:

• reference lists of materials student found helpful on fieldwork
• more structured assignments to post on the site
• a creation of a generic checklist that students could check to indicate they performed a task so others could know who to ask about those procedures
• participation in a synchronous chat room

Summary

The qualitative and quantitative data and the supporting opinions of the students all point to a successful web-based support course. Of course there were the usual technological difficulties experienced by some students. Overall, it seems that students who were isolated and/or in need of supports were able to use the web-based course to seek what they needed from their classmates and the faculty. The table below illustrates an analysis of how each perceived need identified by our needs assessment was met by the web-based course ( See Table 1). It appears that the web-based course was on target for meeting these intended needs. Sharing of strategies for patient treatment was the most highly communicated content. This seems appropriate since this hands on skill is the component the OTS are practicing the most during clinical fieldwork rotations. Students chose to participate in this web-based course and communicated a desire to continue this communication into the next three-month rotation as well. Despite the fact that there was no grade or assignments required, students participated willingly and utilized the web-based course to promote their self-development.

References

American Occupational Therapy Association (1987). Fieldwork evaluation for the occupational therapist. Bethesda,MD: Author.

Barr, E.M. (1980). The relationship between student and clinical supervisor. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 33 (3), 390-397.

Barrow, E., Jeong, M, Parks, S. (1996). Computer experiences and attitudes of students and preceptors in distance education. Journal of American Dietetic Association, 96, 1280-1281.

Brill, J. (2001). Distance education, web-based instruction, and today’s educator. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 2(4), 347-356.

Cornell, R. (1999). Paradigms for the new millenium: How professors will certainly change! Educational Media International, 35 (3), 89-96.

Essex, C. & Cagiltay. (2001). Evaluating an online course: Feedback from distressed students. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 2 (3), 233-239.

Kleehammere, K, Hart, A., & Kleck J. (1990). Nursing student perceptions of anxiety-producing situations in the clinical setting. Journal of Nursing Education, 29 (4), 183-187.

Moore, M. (1991). Distance education theory. The American Journal of Distance Education,5 (30), 1-5.

National Education Association. (2000). Quality on the line. Benchmarks for success in internet-based distance education. Washington DC

Song, S. (2000, Feb. 16-20). Research Issues of Motivation in WBI. In Sparks, K. & Simonsim (Eds.) Annual proceedings of selected research and development papers at the National Convention for the Association for Educational Communications & Technology. (pp. 329-333). Long Beach, CA.

Wiens, G. & Gunter, G. (1998). Delivering effective instruction on the web. Educational Media International, 35(2), 95-99.

Wong, J. & Wong, S. (1987). Towards effective clinical teaching in nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 12 , 505-512.