Free «PENE Curriculum Evaluation Model» Essay Sample

Description of the PENE Evaluation Model

The Promoting Excellence in Nursing Education (PENE) as a curriculum evaluation model is a scheme that avails prerequisite information about fundamentals of nursing to students who wish to pursue nursing as a career. The project is primarily designed for new students joining institutions of higher learning. The framework aims to assess the student’s ability to engage in critical thinking and rational judgment in a simulated nursing environment. Moreover, the program steers the transition of students from the theoretical educational courses to particular practical fields in a nursing career (Pross, 2010).

Specific Questions for Evaluating Student’s Needs in South Florida

The PENE curriculum evaluation model could use various questions in order to assess the needs of the students willing to pursue a BSN program in South Florida. The responses provided by the students will have a direct influence on the choice of a teaching strategy to be used. Additionally, depending on the replies, various activities and assignments could be included, or exempted from the different courses in a BSN program (Suhayda & Miller, 2006). Some of the questions that the students might be asked can include the following:

1) What are your expectations for the various courses in a BSN program?

2) What are your views on the significance of group discussions and research assignments to a nursing course?

3) Do you challenge the theoretical knowledge you learn with practical concepts, ideas and experiences from situations outside the class?

4) How receptive are you towards learning of new material as well as ideas and sharing of your sentiments about the discoveries with others?

5) What particular areas in the field of nursing need improvement?

BSN Students Transition from General Education Courses to Nursing Courses that Require Application and Critical Thinking

The transition process of students from the general education courses to nursing courses is often tough. Nursing courses demand deep critical thinking and application skills as opposed to the general education. Consequently, most students pursuing a BSN program require assistance in cultivating skills in critical thinking and rational judgment. Firstly, the PENE program offers to train BSN students in order to help them familiarize with the nursing world. The training focuses on guiding the students through research work, interpretation of research, and assimilation of the data. The PENE program also offers various laboratory practical lessons to students as a way to equip them with prerequisite quantitative and analytic skills for nursing courses. Such skills help the students in nurturing their critical thinking and rational judgment expertise. Additionally, regular enhancement of the curriculum in terms of accommodating the trending issues in healthcare and technology can assist the students in enhancement of critical thinking skills (Kolb, 2004).

Student Services or Study Approaches that the Students Should Adapt to in Their Learning

Students are recommended to adopt study approaches that are of benefit to both nursing programs and the community. The study approaches should aim at promoting innovation, and setting trends in the nursing world. Some of the strategies that should be adopted by students include active learning, extensive research and attending all lectures (Morris & Faulk, 2012).

Rationale for Each Strategy and Activity Identified

Firstly, active learning entails the interactive discussion of different concepts in the class by students and their professors. In this case, students should strive to ask the professors questions about a lecture they did not understand. Asking questions eliminates any doubts; thus, students can grasp the concepts better.  Furthermore, dissatisfactory answers could spark discussions on a given topic, hence compelling students to read more about it. Active learning could also be in the form of group discussions among students. This strategy is very useful for increasing the attention of a student and improving the teacher-student relationship (Pross, 2010).

Secondly, engaging in extensive research increases the possibilities of new discoveries. Students are particularly encouraged to participate in elaborate research. The future of nursing depends on developing new ideas, concepts and designs. Research enables students to test the hypothesis of theoretical knowledge obtained in classrooms. New discoveries give birth to innovation in the society. This strategy is efficient in promoting innovation in the nursing world (Pross, 2010).

Lastly, students are advised to attend all lectures provided for their BSN program. Students can benefit immensely from this process. Besides gaining factual knowledge from their professors, students can also gain knowledge from the real life examples and experiences narrated by the specialists. Learning is not only restricted to books but can also be tapped from situational experiences. This strategy can help students grow in their fields of specialization (Pross, 2010).