Nurse Educators' Transition to Flipped Classroom: An Interpretive Description Study

• Main Author: Bernard, Jean S.
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University 2015
• Subjects: flipped classroom model; interpretive description; nursing undergraduate education; Higher Education; Medicine and Health Sciences; Nursing
• Online Access: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2603; https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3987&context=etd

To meet learning needs of current undergraduate nursing students, and respond to mandates for bettered prepared graduates, nurse educators must restructure curricula and teaching strategies. One strategy garnering increased attention is the flipped classroom model (FCM). This form of instruction requires students to have access to and be accountable for lecture material on their own time, and then use face-to-face classroom time for interactive learning that can include discussion, case study analysis, or application of pre-class lecture content. Although the FCM has gained popularity, few researchers have fully studied this strategy or considered experiences of faculty who implement the model. Nurse educators, in particular, do not have enough evidence-based information to support use of the FCM. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe undergraduate nurse educators’ experiences associated with the FCM and to elucidate factors which enhance and hinder its implementation. With the analytical approach of interpretive description (ID), the researcher sought to highlight what it is like for educators to teach undergraduate nursing students using the FCM and to offer interpretation of what occurs with transition from traditional lecture to this strategy. Three overarching themes emerged from the data: 1) What We Are Doing Is Not Working: “There’s a Big Disconnect”, 2) Charting a Different Course: Experimenting with the FCM, and 3) Reflections of the Journey thus Far. These themes revealed participants’ motivation for transition to the FCM, their patterns of thinking as they restructured coursework, roles and relationships, and considerations regarding use of this model. Results from this study offer implications for future research and provide undergraduate educators footing for continued evidence-based teaching practice.