At-A-Glance Facts
Organization:
Weatherford College in Weatherford, Texas, offers an associate of applied science degree in nursing and a vocational nursing program. The nursing curriculum consists of two years of coursework, which prepares students to become a registered nurse through successful passing of the National Council of Licensing Examination for the Registered Nurse (NCLEX-RN). The Associate Degree Nursing Program is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN).
Details:
The college’s faculty shares how Elsevier Adaptive Quizzing and HESI Case Studies allow students to develop their knowledge base in and out of the classroom, while also acting as an alternative to clinical assignments when hospital space is limited.
Tonya Treadway, vocational nursing instructor at Weatherford College, shares how Elsevier Adaptive Quizzing and HESI Case Studies allow her students to develop their skillset before class, during class, and after class.
Treadway explains she uses Elsevier Adaptive Quizzing and HESI Case Studies as assignments and an alternative to clinical assignments because they’re productive for the students and easy for faculty to grade.
“The adaptive quizzing lets the students have their own base knowledge,” Treadway says. “It tests them. They can quiz before class. They can do homework after class, and it’s just an awesome way for them to learn their knowledge base and become master level in the subject areas.”
Adaptive quizzing is heavily utilized for students’ before-class preparation and after-class reinforcement. Students are required to dive into the subject material before class so Treadway can have an educated discussion during class with them.
“I assign the novice level for students prior to class and it at least gives them an idea on content and they are able to participate in class discussion from this,” Treadway says.
Following class, she assigns the intermediate level of adaptive quizzing as homework to reinforce what was learned and discussed in class, Treadway says.
“This was our first year and the students absolutely love adaptive quizzing,” Treadway says. “They ask for extra quizzes. They ask for more questions and they love it because it’s always different questions – it’s not the same as their peers.”
During class, Treadway uses HESI Case Studies to help teach the subject matter they’re covering that day. She says she puts a case study on the overhead and goes through it with the students as an in-class assignment.
Additionally, Treadway uses HESI Case Studies as alternative clinical assignments rather than assigning objectives for the clinical due to the lack of hospital space and availability. It requires her to be adaptive in finding ways to get students the knowledge they need without always being hands-on with patients.
“I can give case studies that are OB-related, clinic-related, ER-related,” Treadway says. “Anywhere that they need to go, and they’re still getting that information even if they’re not in that area.”