A problem-solving strategy for teaching biosciences to nursing majors.

Abstract: The author outlines a problem-solving strategy for teaching human anatomy, physiology, and microbiology to nursing majors. In Spring 2005, students improved their academic performance in comparison to Spring 2003. The author plans to further expand and analyze this teaching approach during the next two semesters. Key Words: teaching, strategies, biosciences, nursing Northwestern State University (NSU) of Natchitoches, Louisiana, offers two distinct nursing degrees, each requiring different prerequisites for entry into clinical study. One degree is the two-year Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN), and the other is the four-year degree, the Bachelor of Science of Nursing degree (BSN). Due to stiff competition in the ADN program - about 300 students competing for 40 places - only students earning As and Bs stand any chance of admission to clinical study. The ADN involves fewer prerequisite classes. ADN students are required to complete one credit each of chemistry, developmental psychology, human anatomy, physiology, and microbiology. These classes are essential to the development of a well-rounded nurse and must be passed before moving into the clinical setting. The BSN program involves two years of study before applying for clinical study. BSN students must successfully pass anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry courses with corresponding labwork. The student must also pass chemistry, general psychology, developmental psychology, nutrition, microbiology, and first aid. These classes prepare the student for the vigorous training and study required in the clinical setting. THE STUDENTS Single mothers with full-time jobs comprise the largest share of the student nurse population at NSU. These students generally find the curriculum's terminology and concepts in human anatomy, physiology, and microbiology to be quite overwhelming. For many students, the large quantity of information is overwhelming and unmanageable. Further, students complain that when reading, they tend to doze off. The failure and drop-out rates in the biological subjects tend to range between 50-60%. TRADITIONAL TEACHING STRATEGIES The traditional teaching strategy is lecturing, which students generally find to be uninvolving and incomprehensible. This is especially true if the instructor is speaking quickly, which is typical given that 1000 textbook pages are covered in less than 16 weeks. If students must rely on their own study habits to assimilate the information, then the typical working mother nursing student at NSU is at risk of underperforming in her courses. The Use of Technology in Teaching To conduct their classes, NSU's instructors make use of various technological tools, including videos and PowerPoint presentations. Though a useful adjunct, videos are a highly costly affair, and instructors are limited by a small number of relevant videos. PowerPoint is an excellent tool, especially when combined with graphics, diagrams, and photographs. The author has used memory sticks (356MB chips) to store large amounts of such information. Based on the number of student requests for copies of these PowerPoint presentations, they seem to spark student's interest in the subject matter of the course. The preparation of multicolored PowerPoint presentations interspersed with artwork is, however, a time-consuming chore, and most instructors tend not to take this approach. The time-honored Socratic method of teaching without technological aids is less time-consuming in terms of preparation and is very widely used by bioscience instructors. LEARNING THE BIOSCIENCES BY PROBLEM SOLVING To engage the largely working mother student population, in Fall, 2003 the author introduced study questions as homework at the end of each class. The questions were gleaned from the prescribed textbooks. To be able to find answers to the questions, the students needed to read the relevant chapters paragraph by paragraph. …