An evaluation of the effectiveness of a programme aimed to develop the key skills capabilities of nursing students.

Abstract

The University’s Learning and Teaching Strategy (UoW 2000) recognises that the development of key skills and the diagnosis of key skills are central concerns. A Key Skills Strategy has been developed by the School of Health as a central theme in the School’s draft Learning and Teaching Strategy. The key skills have been seen as a major part of the curriculum in Higher Education for some years. The emphasis upon key skills development has been underlined by the Dearing Enquiry (1997). The school has completed a 2 year research project funded by HEFCE under the Teaching and Learning Technology Programme (TLTP)3 initiative. The project sought to develop information technology (IT) and numeracy skills using technology support learning(TSL). This project identified that nursing and midwifery students had significant deficits in IT and numeracy skills. The project built upon work completed on the TLTP3 Project. A range of measures were devised to assist students in development all 6 key skills. Although there has been much work completed in order to raise the profile of key skills within the School, we have limited understanding of how students perceive the benefits of the Key Skills Strategy which has been adopted. The project collected data from a range of sources in several phases. The data was collected in relation to 197 Pre-Registration Nursing Students in year 1 of RN/Dip.H.E. (Registered Nurse Diploma Higher Education) programme. Participation notes were distributed to the students at the beginning of the project by a Project Team member, who was also a Module Leader for the Key Skills Module the students were undertaking.