Faculty’s Experience Of Developing And Implementing Concept-based Teaching Of Baccalaureate Nursing Education In Chinese Context

Background: The rapid and complex change in the modern medical environment prompted nursing educators to reconsider nursing education to prepare graduates for the future.In order to respond to the call for education reform,concept-based teaching(CBT)as an innovative teaching strategy can cultivate nursing students with higherorder thinking and lifelong learning ability.Given it is the first project in nursing school to use concept-based teaching for education reform in PR China.The experiences of nursing faculty who participate in concept-based teaching are critical to improve the baccalaureate curriculum revision and provide a reference to other colleges.Purpose: This research aims to investigate the faculty’s experience of developing and implementing CBT as well as clarify legitimate barriers and facilitators,furthermore offers practical strategies for successful implementation of CBT.Methods: This research used descriptive qualitative design based on naturalism(Naturalistic inquiry)philosophy and purposive sampling method to select representative participants.Full-time on-the job teachers who participated in conceptbased teaching were taken as the research objects.Sampling continued until redundancy in themes and data saturation was reached.Data was collected through the face-to-face and semi-structured individual interviews and previous documents.The interview outline was preliminarily formulated based on literature review and then revised according to the results of nursing education expert’ consultation and preliminary interview.The interview focusing on the faculty’s experience of participating in concept-based teaching and perceived barriers and supports in the process.Each interview was tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim by researcher.Conventional content analysis was utilized to dig into the faculty’s experience of developing and implementing CBT.Transcribed documents and field notes were also included in the data analysis.Ultimately,9 educators have achieved theoretical saturation because of high group homogeneity.Results: The 10 participants’ age ranges 30 to 47 years average age 39.4 years old;all Han nationality;9 females and 1 male;9 married,1 unmarried;9 lecturers,1associate professor;the average working period is about 13 years;the average participation in conceptual teaching is about 10 years.The education of participants included 6 doctorate degrees and 4 participants were currently enrolled in doctoral programs.Through the data analysis process,six themes and sixteen subthemes emerged from the participants’ description as follows: Questioning themselves,Taking responsibility,Struggling with conflicts,Recognizing support,Feeling worthwhile and Improvement approach.The overarching concept that obtained from participants’ experiences consisted of Feeling worthwhile and central concept,Struggling with conflicts.In the development and implementation of concept-based teaching,the barriers perceived by teachers are embodied in the theme of Struggling with conflict.Sub-themes of this theme include conflicts with students,working pressure and inner conflicts.Teachers perceived facilitators embodied in the themes of Recognizing support and Feeling worthwhile,including administrative encouragement and support,peer support,inner support,positive outcomes and recognition.Conclusion: The faculty’s experience of participating in concept-based teaching were ranged from the curiosity and expectation in the initial stage to the confusion and persistence in the face of challenges in the middle stage,ultimately believed that the time and energy invested are valuable.This study indicates that administrative support,especially psychological support and positive teaching outcomes are central facilitators recognized by faculty in the implementation of CBT.Meanwhile,the students’ resistance and faculty’s maladjustment to CBT were recognized as main obstacle factors.The comprehensive practical preparation for convincing nurse educators to value CBT and believe in its efficacy is essential for faculty to widely adapt concept-based teaching.