Virginia Pannabecker

The Flipped Classroom: Student-Driven Library Research Sessions for Nutrition Education

This article reports on the use of a flipped classroom technique to teach library research skills to upper-level undergraduate nutrition students. A public university Health Sciences librarian and two Nutrition faculty members collaborated to implement a flipped classroom model utilizing online videos and brief assignments packaged in a course-specific library guide for pre-class preparation. Implementation, materials examples, and an evaluation of the method are included. This method provided pre-class learning and increased in-class, hands-on practice in library research for students in an active learning environment. Students found and applied evidence from scientific research studies to course assignments.

Instructional methods used by health sciences librarians to teach evidence-based practice (EBP): a systematic review

BACKGROUND Librarians often teach evidence-based practice (EBP) within health sciences curricula. It is not known what teaching methods are most effective. METHODS A systematic review of the literature was conducted searching CINAHL, EMBASE, ERIC, LISTA, PubMed, Scopus, and others. Searches were completed through December 2014. No limits were applied. Hand searching of Medical Library Association annual meeting abstracts from 2009-2014 was also completed. Studies must be about EBP instruction by a librarian within undergraduate or graduate health sciences curricula and include skills assessment. Studies with no assessment, letters and comments, and veterinary education studies were excluded. Data extraction and critical appraisal were performed to determine the risk of bias of each study. RESULTS Twenty-seven studies were included for analysis. Studies occurred in the United States (20), Canada (3), the United Kingdom (1), and Italy (1), with 22 in medicine and 5 in allied health. Teaching methods included lecture (20), small group or one-on-one instruction (16), computer lab practice (15), and online learning (6). Assessments were quizzes or tests, pretests and posttests, peer-review, search strategy evaluations, clinical scenario assignments, or a hybrid. Due to large variability across studies, meta-analysis was not conducted. DISCUSSION Findings were weakly significant for positive change in search performance for most studies. Only one study compared teaching methods, and no one teaching method proved more effective. Future studies could conduct multisite interventions using randomized or quasi-randomized controlled trial study design and standardized assessment tools to measure outcomes.

Implementing a writing course in an online RN-BSN program.

Scholarly writing is an essential skill for nurses to communicate new research and evidence. Written communication directly relates to patient safety and quality of care. However, few online RN-BSN programs integrate writing instruction into their curricula. Nurses traditionally learn how to write from instructor feedback and often not until midway into their baccalaureate education. Innovative strategies are needed to help nurses apply critical thinking skills to writing. The authors discuss a collaborative project between nursing faculty and technical communication faculty to develop and implement a writing course that is 1 of the 1st courses the students take in the online RN-BSN program.