Chapter 8

Gathering Data for an Evidence-

Informed, Context-Relevant, Unified

Curriculum

Overview• An evidence-informed, context-relevant,

unified curriculum is responsive to the educational and societal environment in which it is offered.

• Contextual factors within and beyond the school of nursing must be investigated.

• Contextual factors are forces, situations, and circumstances that may affect curriculum development activities.

Overview of Contextual Factors

• Contextual factors are both internal and external, and may overlap.

• It is critical for developers to precisely define which data are essential to obtain for each contextual factor.

• Quality data will provide the “big picture” of current and future environment in which curriculum will be offered, and will ensure its future relevance.

Internal Contextual Factors• Mission, vision, philosophy, and goals

– Mission is succinct statement that captures the institution’s character, and shapes curricula of school of nursing, among other things.

– Vision is mental image of what organization will achieve when accomplishing mission.

– Clearly articulated guiding principles form the school’s philosophy.

– Mission, vision, purpose, and values of school most directly reflected in strategic goals.

Internal Contextual Factors (cont.)• Organizational culture and climate

– Culture is “way of being” that is unlikely to be stated outright, yet affects whole organization.

– Organizational climate is shared perceptions of, and meanings attached to:• Policies and procedures experienced by employees

and others.• Observations of behaviors that are rewarded,

supported, and expected.– Culture and climate evolve slowly over time.

Internal Contextual Factors (cont.)• History

– Examination will reveal past values, successes, challenges, curriculum development processes.

– Question answers can provide insight:• When was institution founded, and why?• Has mission, vision, purposes changed over time?• How does school’s history influence present?• How have programs evolved? • Were programs developed for niche market?• What are school’s unique features, programs?

Internal Contextual Factors (cont.)• Financial resources

– Can be most influential contextual factor.– Analysis should be directed to the costs

created by redesigned curriculum.• Programs and policies

– Programs will influence curriculum design.– Courses in other departments are asset.– Policies, guidelines are reference points during

development, as changes are time-consuming.

Internal Contextual Factors (cont.)• Infrastructure

– Elements that form the structure of the institution, and school of nursing, and serve as foundation of educational programs.

– Includes:• Human Resources: core of the curriculum.• Physical Resources: space for classrooms, offices,

laboratories, etc.• Resources to support teaching and learning:

libraries, faculty development services, etc.

External Contextual Factors• Demographics

– Study of populations in terms of size, density, location, age, sex, race, occupation, etc.

– Data can influence healthcare delivery, and should be obtained. Data include:• Birth, death, fertility rates• Distribution according to age, sex, location• Population diversity• Employment rates, income levels by age, sex• Ethnicity

External Contextual Factors (cont.)• Demographics (cont.)

– Data can influence healthcare delivery, and should be obtained. Data include (cont.):• Residence patterns• Morbidity rates and patterns• Family structures• Population mobility• Immigration and emigration patterns

External Contextual Factors (cont.)• Culture

– Culture of a group refers to the way of life of a people, including their attitudes, values, beliefs, arts, sciences, modes of perceptions, and habits of thought and activity.

– Race, ethnicity often equated to culture.– Communities have a number of subcultures.– Respect for cultural practices is a prerequisite

when designing curriculum.– Culture of healthcare also noteworthy.

External Contextual Factors (cont.)• Health and health care

– Health of people influences nursing care, and, thus, curriculum.

– Healthcare system is prime determinant of the learning context for student’s professional practice.

– Developers should gather data pertaining to settings and opportunities for student learning experiences, and stay current about healthcare delivery patterns.

External Contextual Factors (cont.)• Professional standards and trends

– Trends in nursing practice and education are strong influences on curriculum. Data to obtain include:• Professional, regulatory, licensing requirements.• Entry-to-practice, nursing practice, legal and ethical

standards. • Self-assessment, quality assurance guidelines.• Evidence-based nursing practices.• Research on nursing education, practice.

External Contextual Factors (cont.)• Professional standards and trends (cont.)

– Trends in nursing practice and education are strong influences on curriculum. Data to obtain include (cont.):• Contemporary nursing education models.• Current, anticipated, enhanced roles, and scope of

practice.• Position statements from professional

organizations, and nursing leaders.• Reports from foundations, government agencies, or

commissions, other groups.

External Contextual Factors (cont.)• Educational and healthcare technology and

informatics– Technological advances affect the following in

nursing curricula:• Content• Teaching-learning strategies• Course delivery• Course management

– Data on technology and informatics for education, healthcare should be gathered.

External Contextual Factors (cont.)• Environment

– Atmospheric, physical, biological, and psychological aspects of a community.

– Must be considered in curriculum planning.– Data to collect include:

• Weather patterns• Effects of climate change• Air, water quality• Local industries known to produce pollutants• Environmental disasters

External Contextual Factors (cont.)• Social, political, and economic conditions

– Forces, situations, or circumstances in the external environment.

– These can affect curriculum development:• Social behaviors, and issues that affect health, such

as drug use or unemployment.• Political, legislative influences, such as support for

nursing and nursing education.• Economic conditions, and projected government

and private support for higher education.

Approaches to GatheringContextual Data

• Methods of data gathering for curriculum development vary in purpose and rigor compared to data collection for research.

• Thorough understanding of context in which curriculum will be offered gained only through careful planning of the data to be gathered.

• Planning for this requires agreement about the pertinent contextual factors.

Approaches to Gathering Contextual Data (cont.)

• Developers should consider these when making decisions about which data to collect:– Which factors seem most germane?– What are the precise data required?– Potential utility of data for development

process?– Which data truly influence curriculum?– What data is “nice to know?”– How does data influence curriculum?

Approaches to Gathering Contextual Data (cont.)

• Developers should consider thee when making decisions about which data to collect (cont.):– How accessible and available are the data?– How quickly can data be gathered?– Is acquisition of data so important that a delay

in development can be justified?– What are consequences of failing to gather

data?

Approaches to Gathering Contextual Data (cont.)

• Methods of gathering data– When making decisions about methods to

gather data about internal, external factors, consider:• Time available for data gathering in plan.• Time needed to locate extant documents, develop

interview questions, gather and analyze data.• Developer expertise available related to data

gathering and analysis.• Resources to support the endeavor.

Approaches to Gathering Contextual Data (cont.)

• Methods of gathering data (cont.)– Frequently used methods of data-gathering for

curriculum development include:• Literature reviews and Internet Searches• Document Review• Key Informant Interviews• Focus Group Interviews• Surveys• Delphi Technique• Consultations

Approaches to Gathering Contextual Data (cont.)

• The work of gathering data– Tables 8-3 and 8-4 in the text contain the

following information related to effective data gathering:• Types of data• Data Sources• Data gathering methods for both internal and

external contextual factors– It is helpful to have a central repository so data

will be readily available for analysis.

Relationship of Gathering Contextual Data to an Evidence-Informed, Context-

Relevant, Unified Curriculum• Context-relevant curriculum is:

– Responsive to students, current and projected societal, health, and community situations, and imperatives of nursing profession.

– Consistent with mission, philosophy, goals of the educational institution, and school of nursing.

– Feasible within realities.

Relationship of Gathering Contextual Data to an Evidence-Informed, Context-

Relevant, Unified Curriculum (cont.)• Evidence-informed curriculum is based on

evidence about:– Context in which curriculum will be offered,

and graduates will practice nursing.– Students, learning, teaching, and nursing

education.– Nursing practice.– Clients and their responses to health situations.

Relationship of Gathering Contextual Data to an Evidence-Informed, Context-

Relevant, Unified Curriculum (cont.)• Unified curriculum is one that contains

curricular components that are related:– Conceptually– Logically– Cohesively– Visibly

Core Processes of Curriculum Work• Faculty development

– Expand members’ appreciation, knowledge of relationship between contextual factors and development of evidence-informed, context-relevant, unified curriculum.

• Ongoing appraisal– Developers ask many questions when gathering

data.• Scholarship

– Many opportunities related to gathering data.