Taking a Selfie - First year Nursing students and the efficacy of online literacy self-assessment
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Taking a Selfie - First year Nursing students and the efficacy of online
literacy self-assessment
Rea Turner,
Kathryn Derrington
Academic Skills Advisers
Library, Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
Margaret Wheeler,
Dr Naomi Malouf,
Leanne Jack
Lecturers, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health (QUT)
Abstract
This nuts‘n’bolts session outlines the QUT Faculty of Health/School of Nursing’s initiative to
address a recognised need for pre-emptive literacy support for at-risk students. Led by the
newly formed Literacy Working Party (LWP), this initiative produced an online information
literacy self-assessment tool to enable students to establish current and future skill levels and
to take a proactive approach to their learning. The LWP aspired to empower confidence and
independence by providing timely, targeted support for students with identified learning
difficulties, information literacy and numeracy gaps, and for students from culturally and
linguistically diverse backgrounds. This session outlines the definition of literacy adopted by
the LWP, the goals and collaborative processes undertaken, key recommendations made and
the online literacy self-assessment tool. In small group discussion, participants will explore
the efficacy of self-assessment tools generally, how this specific tool improves student
experiences, and its potential application in their institutions.
LWP definition of literacy
Literacy is viewed as a flexible group of skills and strategies that are closely linked to context
and purpose. According to a 1991 definition by the Department of Employment, Education
and Training (DEET), literacy can be defined as:
… the ability to read and use written information and to write appropriately, in a
range of contexts. It is used to develop knowledge and understanding, to achieve
personal growth and to function effectively in our society. Literacy involves the
integration of speaking, listening and critical thinking with reading and writing.
Effective literacy is intrinsically purposeful, flexible and dynamic and continues
to develop throughout an individual’s lifetime (Department of Employment,
1991, p. 9).
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Taking a Selfie - First year Nursing students and the efficacy of online literacy self-assessment
Nuts’n’Bolts sessionMore current views of literacy have moved beyond simple concepts of textual literacy to
encompass notions of active citizenship ("FaceIt", 2014), new communications practices and
information technologies (European Commission, 2014), critical thinking (Temple, 2001;
Wilhelm, 2007) and linguistic and cultural diversity (Singleton, 2009). As a way of
emphasising the diversity of ways that non-verbal, spoken, print, visual and multimodal
communication practices are used, the plural terms such as ‘literate practices’ and
‘multiliteracies’ (Cummins, 2004) are increasingly being seen in the literature to describe
literacy in its many forms.
Goals and collaborative process
Following the creation of the LWP, team members sought to identify students who struggled
to meet the literacy needs of tertiary study or who were “at risk” of being challenged by the
rigors of the Nursing academic programme. This included domestic, international students, as
well as those with learning disabilities. It was anticipated that an integrated programme of
literacy would be developed throughout the undergraduate Bachelor of Nursing (BN) degree
to support student nurses in “becoming” (Holland, 1999) registered nurses and more widely
as literate graduates of QUT.
Further aspirations of the LWP included providing ongoing and specific support for
international students, improving academic writing (including writing and referencing) of
students across the Nursing cohort, empowering students to be more confident and
independent in academic literacies, embedding academic literacy skills in undergraduate units
rather than having them as an adjunct skills that may or may not be integrated into learning of
specific units, seeking to improve entry requirements and support for academic skills in the
first year of Nursing, and encouraging mathematics literacies as a prerequisite for the
programme.
The stated goal of the LWP is to develop an action plan for achieving increased awareness by
staff and students of literacy requirements and increased participation in literacy support
strategies to support the achievement of improved literacy. This focus on increasing
awareness of literacy requirements is reflective of Kift’s (2008) notion of First Year
Experience (FYE) being “everybody’s business”, as the Faculty of Health recognised that to
support the literacy needs of their students adequately, it needed to be a shared responsibility.
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Taking a Selfie - First year Nursing students and the efficacy of online literacy self-assessment
Nuts’n’Bolts sessionThe LWP consists of Nursing School lecturers, two officers from Equity and Disability, an
Academic Language and Learning Educator and an Academic Skills Adviser. The working
party met over a four month period in 2013 and presented a number of recommendations to
the Learning and Teaching Committee for implementation in Semester 1, 2014.
Key recommendations of the LWP
The recommendations included mandatory completion of the QUT ‘Study Smart’ online
tutorial for commencing students, embedding literacy teaching and resources into core units,
and the development of a resource repository for staff, eg: case examples and assessment
rubrics.
The online information literacy self- assessment tool
The key recommendation of the LWP forms the focus of this nuts‘n’bolts session - that is:
embedding an online information literacy ‘self-assessment’ tool testing information,
academic and numeracy literacy skills through the QUT Blackboard. This tool, embedded on
Blackboard for one large prerequisite undergraduate unit and one post-graduate unit, is
designed for students to consider their academic skills, abilities and then a category that best
represents their current level and understanding in areas relevant to nursing. Each question
links to online academic skills resources, facilitating instantaneous access to study support for
students. It also includes questions concerning language and disability with links to further
assistance. The expected impact of this initiative is:
• to raise students’ awareness of the skills required to undertake and complete a nursing
program and be successful in the work place;
• to showcase the support available and link to online resources and information; and
• to encourage students to reflect and take responsibility for their immediate and
ongoing learning.
At this implementation stage in the process, the LWP are refining the approach and design of
the methodologies by which the evidence and impact will be measured.
Conclusion
The QUT School of Nursing sought to raise their first year students’ awareness of their
literacy knowledge and skills necessary to complete their degree, develop these skills, and
link them to appropriate learning and study support within the University. Through a
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Taking a Selfie - First year Nursing students and the efficacy of online literacy self-assessment
Nuts’n’Bolts sessioncollaborative process, faculty and central support staff designed and developed a tool to be
trialled in Semester 1 2014. In keeping with the LWP’s aspirations to improve students’
independence through increased literacy support, the anticipated impact will be monitored
using a range of evaluative strategies, including an accompanying on-line survey that
students complete at the end of using the self-assessment tool. This survey feedback will be
received by the School of Nursing to further improve the students’ experience and
effectiveness of the tool. The overall expected outcomes include improved student
confidence, help-seeking behaviours and increased uptake of support services.
Session Plan
Time Content Details
0-3 Discussion of rationale for establishment of working PPt presentation
mins party. Definition of literacy as agreed upon and
adopted by LWP and justification of decision to design
online self-assessment tool.
3-8 Outline of goals and processes of working party. PPt presentation
mins
8-15 Presentation of key Literacy WP recommendations and Examples/demonstration of tool and
mins focussing on online assessment tool - discussion of evidence of implementation
implementation progress to date. success/progress
15-30 Facilitated small group discussion Consider and discuss key questions
mins
Key Questions for Discussion
1) Is self-assessment a valuable/ valid instrument to raise awareness and assess need – would
it work at your institution why/ why not?
What/ who are the potential barriers and how could you overcome these?
2) The evaluation of self–assessment is difficult to implement and measure. Suggest ways to
measure the efficacy of this tool?
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Taking a Selfie - First year Nursing students and the efficacy of online literacy self-assessment
Nuts’n’Bolts sessionReferences
Cummins, J. (2004). Mulitliteracy pedagogy and the role of identity texts. In K. Leithwood,
P. McAdie, N. Bascia, & A, Rodrigue, A. (Eds.) Teaching for deep understanding:
Towards the Ontario curriculum that we need. Toronto, Canada, Elementary
Teacher's Federation of Ontario (ETFO).
Department of Employment, Education and Training. (1991). Australia’s Language and
Literacy Policy. Canberra: AGPS.
"FaceIt". (2014). Active Citizenship. Retreived from
http://www.faceitproject.org/active_citizenship.htm
Holland, K. (1999). A journey to becoming: The student nurse in transition. Journal of
Advanced Nursing, 29(1), 229-236.
Kift, S. (2008). The next, great first year challenge: Sustaining, coordinating and embedding
coherent institution–wide approaches to enact the FYE as "everybody’s business".
Paper presented at 11th International Pacific Rim FYHE Conference, An Apple for
the Learner: Celebrating the First Year Experience. Retrieved from
http://eprints.qut.edu.au/14401/
European Commission. (2014). Media Literacy: active citizenship in today's information
society [Brochure]. Brussels: MEDIA programme. Retrieved from
http://ec.europa.eu/culture/media/media-content/media-
literacy/media_literacy_leaflet_en.pdf
Singleton, K. (2009). Understanding cultural and linguistic barriers to health literacy. The
Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 14(3), para 3 doi:
10.3912/OJIN.Vol14No03Man04
Temple, C. 2001. Reading and writing or critical thinking in higher education: Strategies for
use across the curriculum, New York: Open Society Institute, RWCT Project.
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Taking a Selfie - First year Nursing students and the efficacy of online literacy self-assessment
Nuts’n’Bolts sessionWilhelm, J. D. (2007). Engaging readers and writers with inquiry: Promoting deep
understandings in language arts and the content areas with guiding questions. New
York, NY: Scholastic.
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Taking a Selfie - First year Nursing students and the efficacy of online literacy self-assessment
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