Faculty Perceptions of Developing Student Workload, Learning Activities, and Rigor in Undergraduate Nursing Courses

Student workload has been a neglected issue in both the research literature, as well as in practice among teachers in higher education. The purpose of this study was to discover the methods utilized by faculty in undergraduate nursing programs to make decisions regarding student workload for course curricula. Additional purposes of the study were to identify the faculty methods of student workload evaluation, as well as, identify the nursing faculty participants' perceptions of academic rigor.;The participants of this study were full-time faculty teaching undergraduate nursing courses that are directly responsible for the content of their courses. The nursing faculty sample size (N=16), were interviewed in seven different colleges (both private and public) that grant undergraduate-nursing degrees, in northern New York State. The pilot study consisted of three faculty interviews utilizing the semi-structured interviews questions, created from the research questions and the review of the literature. Qualitative descriptive research using the semi-structured interviews questions and inductive content analysis was the methodology used for this study. Data was categorized by using the NVivo 10 software for analysis.;Five themes emerged from the faculty participants' narratives: (a) Lack of Formal Curriculum Education Courses Among the Participants ; (b) Perception of Rigor in the Participants' Undergraduate Nursing Courses; (c) Nursing Faculty Participants' Perceptions of Focusing on Outcomes; (d) Autonomy with the Participants' Curriculum Appears to Vary Across Their Institutions; (e) The Nursing Faculty Perceptions of Enhancing Learning.;Understanding student workload issues will enable nursing faculty to focus on the processes and quality of student learning. Research of student learning has been focused on outcomes rather than processes. Clear-cut reference points for the calculation of student workload will promote transparency and fairness to all students. Student workload research has the potential to lead educators and key stakeholders to best practices in teaching, reduce academic stress, and decrease college student dropout rates. Identifying best practices regarding student workload issues has the potential for better outcomes in student learning.