March 2nd: Day Two in the Trenches…

So I survived day one of my teaching practicum experience, and then it was on to day two in the classroom. On day two we got an early start because students were offered the opportunity of an exam review. As an undergraduate nurse I went through many exam reviews myself, and I have learned that every instructor is different and likes to review exams in a different way. That day was no exception for a new learning experience. My preceptor had an informal review for this exam, which was understandable given the size of the class (117 students can be an overwhelming number, especially when they are stressed out about their exam). Because the exam review was not a requirement for students but rather an elected opportunity to review their mistakes and ask questions, my preceptor relayed that it is always uncertain how many students will attend exam reviews.

As always, there is planning involved. My preceptor had pre-printed the 75 question exam keys and posted them up on the walls of the classroom. Students were allowed to view their scantrons and walk around the classroom to check the test questions they had missed or that they had concerns about. Students were also allowed to review the drug calculation portion of the exam. My preceptor stated that she was pleasantly surprised because about 75% of the students attended this exam review, when in the past, only about 20% of students had attended, and they were generally the students who had done well. I have noticed that many of the students who did well on the exam still like to review their exams and seek positive reinforcement, which tends to be a good learning technique. Unfortunately, several students who had not done so well did not attend the exam review which I feel may harm them in the future. I suppose as an educator all you can do is guide them in the right direction and offer suggestions, the rest is up to the student.

As part of the academic plan for these students, at-risk students are required to attend student counseling meetings with the course instructor. Students should schedule an appointment to see the instructor if they scored less than 70% on the exam. My preceptor created a questionnaire/document for these student counseling sessions, which I found to be a great assessment and documentation tool. It incorporated all of the factors—including things from a student’s attendance and study habits to issues in their lives like work and family matters—all of which play a role in a student’s performance. It was interesting for me to be a part of this review process, because I was able to observe and understand the reasons that students are struggling in the course while allowing me the option to try to help them through their difficulties. These personal meetings provided the instructor and myself the opportunity to talk with students one-on-one, and offer available resources including tutors, learning centers, study groups, and additional references including helpful textbooks and even websites. I really thought it was nice to talk with the students on such a personal level, and found that it was far less intimidating for them than talking about issues while other students are around. It also gave me a chance to get to know some of the students a little bit better. This was a great experience to be a part of, and I’m sure these meetings help contribute in a positive way to the reason that UTA has such a high graduation rate. I was told recently that UTA’s nursing school graduate rate is one of the top five in the state, which is definitely something to be proud of!

My preceptor and I ended the day in a brief discussion about the events of the day, our thoughts on the day, and we talked about a plan for the following week. All in all it was an interesting day—long but interesting—and I was really appreciative of the learning experience I gained that day! Hope that everyone’s experiences have been as educational and as positive as mine has!

Well that's it in a nutshell for day two. Take care everyone and bye for now…

And so it begins…

I finally had my first day of class on February 23rd! It was a long but interesting day. I’m not sure if it was the idea of being back in a nursing school classroom, or the thought of having to be so sure of my knowledge that I could share it with the 117 students in this class, but for some reason I got nervous! The funny part was that my role was only to be an observer; I didn’t have to teach anything. Maybe it was through osmosis that I felt the sense of impending doom many students felt that day because it was their first course exam. I helped the instructor prepare for the exam before the students arrived, and I also assisted in proctoring the exam. I can honestly say that I don’t miss being an undergraduate nursing student on exam days! The exams given in this course are in the HESI format, which my preceptor has indicated that students have a hard time getting used to, but in the end have a positive result in success rate on the NCLEX exam upon graduation.

The experience of proctoring an exam gave me some insight into the amount of preparation that is needed on the instructor’s end for an exam, which is far more than I had really ever considered. Because the size of the class is so large, the students were split up into two groups and the exam was administered in two different classrooms. Small details like a sign-in sheet to calculators (for those fun little drug calculations), and numbered exams had to be ready before the exam could even begin. Once students started, my job as a proctor was to keep a close eye on the students, and answer any questions, without of course giving away any answers. Once students had completed their exams, the proctors verified that all pages were intact for each exam, and that students had their names on their drug calculation sheets because they were submitted separately. I organized the exams back into their original order, and helped my preceptor lock away the exams to protect their integrity.

It was interesting and difficult to decide how to grade some of the exams because there were many instances where students had written the correct answer, but did not receive credit for their efforts because they didn’t follow the directions appropriately. For example, students did not receive credit for their answers if they did not show their work. Also, some students rounded off their answers to the nearest hundredth as opposed to the nearest tenth. My preceptor struggled with the idea of not awarding credit for answers in both instances, but after speaking with other course instructors and considering what would be fair to the students that did follow the directions, she decided that credit would not be awarded in either case. This would be a hard lesson for some to learn, but would probably serve as a good learning strategy as I doubt many would make the same mistake again, especially knowing that it would cost them points! Unfortunately I have had to learn a few things the hard way, and although I have rarely made the same mistake twice, I don’t know how I will grade exams when faced with the same situation in my future career as a nurse educator. I definitely have something to think about…

One of the challenging things for both the course instructor and the students in this course is that the class only meets once per week. This means that lots of planning has to be put into making each meeting time productive and efficient. Unfortunately, this doesn’t make for a very forgiving day when exams are administered. Typically, exams in this course are administered during the first half of class time with a short break (10-15 minutes) and then followed by a class lecture in the second half of the class. My preceptor was forgiving in the sense that she chose to lecture on content that will not be heavily tested on the next exam.

After the exam and lectures were all said and done, it was time for a quick break and then off to a faculty meeting. This meeting was interesting because all of the nursing faculty were gathered along with the University Provost to discuss relevant issues and upcoming events. UTA’s faculty work in a shared governance manner, so it was interesting to see how issues come about and get resolved in smaller committees and are then reported back to the faculty for a majority vote. The University Provost presented information about the current use of and future increase in distance education at UTA—which as a graduate student enrolled in a distance learning program, was a topic of particular interest to me :)

After the faculty meeting, I met with my preceptor briefly to talk about both of our thoughts for the day, and discuss the plan for the upcoming week. All in all it was a full day, and I got some good insight as to what it’s like to be an instructor on exam day. This is definitely a role that requires lots of planning, but can surely be very rewarding, especially when students are successful! I am enjoying this practicum so far and am looking forward to whatever comes next! :)