Blended Learning enhances student preparedness

At USC, funding made available by Health Workforce Australia, enabled a project to be developed and completed in 2012. Community engagement activities informed development of blended learning resources (vodcasts, online quiz and certificate) accessible by students before clinical placement, thereby facilitating student preparedness for real world experiences. Many nursing degree programs maintain a Primary Health Care (PHC) element with community focus as part of a curriculum addressing the theoretical elements. At the University of the Sunshine Coast the nursing program incorporates a community focus combining theory with a clinical placement. This approach exposes students to rewards and challenges in PHC, encouraging students to consider future professional positions in community settings. Recently, Federal Government policy has made a strong commitment to PHC. However, supporting this at tertiary education level in the current neoliberal economic climate is challenging. Furthermore, research in teaching supports the implementation of authentic learning, underpinning student learning needs to be aligned to the reality of the experience they are currently being prepared for. This project enhanced student learning using blended learning tools informed by industry partners and supported community engagement with a focus towards student preparedness for professional practice. This was achieved by utilising blended learning tools which supported active learning techniques, prompt feedback, time on placement and communicated high expectations of clinical outcomes to students. An additional benefit of using lended learning resources was alignment of student experience with the University’s Graduate Attributes and Standards