QUALITY OF LEARNING RESOURCES CENTERS IN ASSOCIATE DEGREE AND BACCALAUREATE DEGREE SCHOOLS OF NURSING (NURSING SCHOOLS).
Contributors: Boston University.
Published: 1991
Number of pages: 227
Subjects: Education, Curriculum and Instruction.; Education, Technology.; Health Sciences, Education.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purposes of this descriptive study with analytical components were to develop profiles of the quality of learning resources centers (LRCs) in associate degree (ADN) and baccalaureate degree (BSN) schools of nursing; determine relationships between quality of LRCs and roles of LRC directors; and between quality of LRCs and selected characteristics of responding schools and their LRCs. The sample included LRC directors from 91 ADN programs 121 BSN programs and 28 schools with both programs, all drawn from 1198 National League for Nursing accredited schools of nursing.

Demographic data were collected using an investigator developed survey instrument. Data show that most programs had skills laboratories and written LRC protocols. The median budget was $7,750. Fundamentals' faculty were the most frequent LRC users. Overhead transparencies were the most frequently produced media. Profiles of the quality of LRCs, obtained using means from a modified version of Fulton's (1973) \□it Evaluative Checklist,□ were similar for all programs.

Independent variables were: roles of LRC directors, budget, school characteristics, LRC characteristics, LRC functions, and faculty involvement in the LRC. Six dependent variables included: administrative commitment to the LRC; staffing of LRC; services to curriculum and instruction; functions of the media center; classroom facilities; and budget and finance. Data were collected using the Evaluative Checklist.

Six null hypotheses were tested using one-way ANOVAs and Pearson product moment correlations. Findings indicated that written protocols were significant indicators of LRC quality. Full time directors perceived quality of media services higher than part time directors. Directors under contract and those with budgetary responsibility perceived quality of media services higher than those without these characteristics. Directors with training in curriculum and instruction and computer technology perceived the overall quality of LRCs higher than directors without this training.

The need for the Evaluative Checklist to measure quality of LRC programs was demonstrated by requests for national profiles from over half of the deans or directors contacted for this study. Involving LRC directors in the budgetary process would improve administrative quality of LRCs. Another way of improving quality would be to employ LRC directors prepared in a field compatible with administering a learning resources program.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-04, Section: A, page: 1192.

Thesis (ED.D.)--BOSTON UNIVERSITY, 1991.

School code: 0017.