Robin Kiteley

Towards a team-based, collaborative approach to embedding e-learning within undergraduate nursing programmes

E-learning approaches are incorporated in many undergraduate nursing programmes but there is evidence to suggest that these are often piecemeal and have little impact on the wider, nurse education curriculum. This is consistent with a broader view of e-learning within the higher education (HE) sector, which suggests that higher education institutions (HEIs) are struggling to make e-learning a part of their mainstream delivery [HEFCE, 2005. HEFCE Strategy for E-Learning 2005/12. Bristol, UK, Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). [online] Available at: Accessed: 30 May 07]. This article discusses some of the challenges that face contemporary nurse education and seeks to account for reasons as to why e-learning may not be fully embedded within the undergraduate curriculum. These issues are considered within a wider debate about the need to align e-learning approaches with a shift towards a more student focused learning and teaching paradigm. The article goes on to consider broader issues in the literature on the adoption, embedding and diffusion of innovations, particularly in relation to the value of collaboration. A collaborative, team-based approach to e-learning development is considered as a way of facilitating sustainable, responsive and multidisciplinary developments within a field which is constantly changing and evolving.

Literature Reviews in Social Work

This book provides a clear and accessible guide to the process of conducting a literature review, addressing the skills, confidence and knowledge required to produce a successful literature review in the field of social work. There are specific chapters on: -Choosing your topic -Effective search strategies -Taking notes -Organising your material -Accurate referencing -Managing the process of writing your literature review -Enhancing evidence-based practice.

Working with Students as Partners: Developing Peer Mentoring to Enhance the Undergraduate Student Experience

Capturing the power of student peers to enhance the student experience and higher education (HE) learning environment, as well as provide skills development opportunities, has a centuries long history (Colvin and Ashman. Mentoring and Tutoring: Partnership in Learning 18(2):121–134, 2010). However, recent changes in the HE sector (including changes to financing students resulting in growing financial pressures, and the teaching excellence framework emphasising metrics measuring students’ satisfaction with a course and their outcomes) means ‘peer mentoring’ and ‘peer assisted learning’ schemes have grown as the holistic context of higher education becomes increasingly understood as fundamentally significant to students’ learning experience (Lindley et al. Journal of Studies in International Education 17(1):79–96, 2013; Mavrinac. Libraries and the Academy 5(3):391–404, 2005). Recent work has pointed to the contemporary imperative for universities to work with students to re-imagine and re-develop all aspects of the student learning experience in a spirit of collaboration, co-operation and partnership (Bryson, C. (Ed.). (2014). Understanding and developing student engagement. London: Routledge; HEA. (2014). Framework for partnership in learning and teaching in higher education. Higher Education Academy; Healey, M., Flint, A., & Harrington, K. (2014). Engagement through partnership: Students as partners in learning and teaching in higher education. York: The Higher Education Academy. Retrieved from: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/resources/Engagement_through_partnership.pdf; Thomas, L., Hill, M., O’Mahony, J., & Yorke, M. (2017). Supporting student success: Strategies for institutional change. What works? Student retention and success programme. London: Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Retrieved from: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/hub/download/what_works_2_-_full_report.pdf. Accessed 4 January 2018). In this chapter we focus on how such an approach was applied to the development of a peer mentor scheme for new undergraduate students studying within the social sciences. Such mentoring programmes have been linked to higher achievement outcomes as well as retention and student inclusivity within diverse populations (Binder et al. Journal of Education and Training Studies 1(2), 2013; Chester et al. Australian Journal of Pyschology 65(1):30–37, 2013).