Graduate students' perceptions of online teaching and relationship to preferred learning styles

MedSurg Nursing, Dec, 2005 by Arleen Fearing, Marguerite Riley

The students completed the Demographic Survey and the YAK Survey of Preferred Learning Channel(s) during the orientation session. The FAST Online course evaluation tool was completed by the students at midterm and at the end of the 16-week semester for each of the six nurse educator courses. The courses evaluated were Curriculum and Instruction in Nursing (Nurs 581), Testing and Evaluation in Nursing Education (Nurs 582), Issues in Nursing Education (Nurs 583), Teaching Strategies for Diverse Populations in Nursing (Nurs 584), Synthesis of Teaching (Nurs 585a), and Synthesis of Teaching. Practicum (Nurs 585b). The teaching practicum course included 90 hours of face-to-face practice teaching with a preceptor; all other course content was delivered online via WebCT.

Results

Learning style survey. The VAK Survey of Preferred Learning Channel(s) suggests the preferred way the student learns, and may involve visual, auditory, kinesthetic, or a combination of several styles. Table 2 shows the preferred learning styles for the 28 students included in the study.

Online course evaluation: Students' perceptions. The comparison of the Likert responses provided by the students in their mid-term and final FAST surveys completed for each course revealed that the students were generally approving of the online courses, the presentation online, and the asynchronous format (see Table 3). The fact that students completing the final survey for the courses reported more favorable responses in almost all of the items seems to indicate that the students were able to remain positive in completing the courses, and the online presentation offered sufficient variety for all to be successful despite their preferred learning styles. As is readily apparent, none of the survey items had a majority of responses that were in the "needs improvement" or "unacceptable" categories.

Item 16 in the FAST surveys gave the students the opportunity to provide written comments with suggestions for improvement and changes. The eight areas most commonly included in the written comments are shown in Table 4.

Discussion

Findings indicate positive student perceptions of the Web-based course format. Technological support of students when problems occur was a high priority. Convenience remained an important motivator for these students. The ability to complete assignments in their timeframe met their adult learning needs. The need for specific guidelines and instructions for projects and assignments was high. Feedback from instructors needed to be timely and relevant. Group interaction was an unexpected finding as they developed stronger online communities during the program.

The researchers, who themselves were registered nurses performing hands-on care to patients many years before becoming full-time educators of nursing students, were not surprised that almost half (46.3%) of the nurses taking this course work reported the kinesthetic (K) learning style as dominant. A result of the survey of greater interest was the low number of the sample in the Visual (V) (7.1%) and the Visual- Kinesthetic (V-K) (14.3%) categories especially because the courses, except for the teaching practicum, were delivered online. A larger number of V and V-K learners would be expected to enroll in online courses if learning preference were the only consideration. Less than one-third of the sample (32.1%) had a combined learning channel preference of two styles, and none of the subjects showed a combined preference of all three learning styles. "Because learning style preferences change with age, experience, and maturity, it makes sense that the activities designed to engage various learning styles in a traditional undergraduate course would be different from those designed to engage adult learners" (Palloff & Prant, 2003, p. 34). The researchers, having taught both undergraduate and graduate courses, recognized that nurses returning to higher education to pursue advanced degrees will take courses by whatever presentation method is available and convenient, and are willing to devote the time and energy needed to meet the requirements of the course even if the course is taught in their least preferred learning style. Even though a large number of the sample favored the kinesthetic learning preference, they succeeded in these online courses because they developed and used good computer skills.