Exploring Nursing Students’ Perceptions of their Learning Experience in a Gerontological Nursing Course with a Technology-Mediated Learning Environment

ABSTRACT

This was a multi-method study employing pre- and post-course questionnaires and focus groups to explore nursing students’ learning experiences with a technology-mediated learning approach guided by the Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition (SAMR) model in the course Gerontological Nursing. 144 undergraduate nursing students completed the questionnaires. The findings suggest that the students perceived a significant improvement in their cognitive skills, class atmosphere, and educational practices at the end of the course when compared to the baseline. However, no significant increase was found in their perceived engagement in technology-mediated activities. Five themes emerged from three focus groups involving 17 students: Beneficial to my learning, Feeling less stressed, Motivating me to learn, Feeling more engaged, and Encountering some technical barriers and suggestions for improvement. Students’ perceptions of using technologies for teaching and learning were mostly positive. Digitalised teaching materials should be interactive and locally relevant to improve students’ learning experience and engagement.

KEYWORDS:

• Technology-mediated learning environment
• learning experience
• undergraduate
• SAMR model

Acknowledgements

The authors thank all of the students who took part in this study. They also thank The Working Group on Innovative Learning Spaces, PolyU, for supporting this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the The Working Group on Innovative Learning Spaces, The HK Polytechnic University [N/A].

Notes on contributors

Justina Yat Wa Liu

Justina Yat Wa Liu is Associate Professor in SN, PolyU; Deputy Director of Centre for Gerontological Nursing. Her special research and teaching expertise is gerontological nursing, particularly managing common symptoms related to frailty. Her research foci include the implementation of exercise, nutritional advise and psycho-behavioural interventions by using e-health technologies to manage fatigue, sarcopenia, low physical activity levels, falls, among frail older people.

Patrick Pui Kin Kor

Patrick Pui Kin Kor is Assistant Professor in SN, PolyU: His research interests stem from his clinical experiences as a nurse in geriatric settings and have become increasingly focused on dementia care, caregiver support and nursing education

Rick Yiu Cho Kwan

Rick Yiu Cho Kwan is Assistant Professor in SN, PolyU. His research and education focus on the care of older people with frailty and dementia. In research, he employs e-health technologies to promote healthy behaviours and provide training. In education, he employs virtual reality and massive open online course methods in the field of gerontology.