Instructional Design at the Front Line: A Reflection on Epistemology and Meaning Making

Introduction

Edmund Husserl (1859-1938)

Responses to educational reform have meant that in terms of the future potential employability of students, there has been a corresponding rise in needs-led curriculum design and new and innovative pedagogic approaches in digital interactivity in UK higher education (Tsiotakis & Jimoyiannis, 2016). The new Bachelor of Science Honours Degree (BSc Hons) in Adult Nursing Practice at the University of Sunderland was designed in partnership with stakeholders from regional trusts, patient care and public involvement representatives and academic staff with a resultant mission statement of ‘Education Transforming Care.’ The construction and labelling of a relatively disparate set of university IT systems (e.g., the virtual learning environment, e-portfolios and Padlet) collectively as the ‘Nurse Navigator System’ was routed in the principles of broader design research where methodologies of teaching, learning and assessment were used to drive educational innovation within and between clinical and academic teaching. In terms of pragmatic design and appearance this was relatively straightforward.

The rationale for developing a digital navigator system was threefold:

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  Using technology and strategic pedagogic design to simultaneously drive human relationships at the heart of both the patient and student experience

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  Driving an integrated curriculum

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  Maximising the potential of student nurses to simultaneously be functionally competent, authentic in their provision of care and workforce-ready upon completion of their studies at the University.

This chapter has been written to provide a source of reflection on the process of curriculum justification, design, development, and implementation for academics within global HEI settings. It does not seek to provide generalisable research, but rather provides an account of experience, some of which may be potentially transferable to other similar educational contexts and settings.

Alongside critiques of higher education curricula in relation to their relative complexity, the identification of the critical level, timing, collaboration and interaction amongst academic and clinical staff and their students has become increasingly important (Duncan-Howell 2010). The BSc (Hons) Adult Nursing Practice programme provided an opportunity to drive authenticity and flexibility in education with the extant operational Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) platforms and learning technology of the institution. It also, most importantly, was an opportunity to personalise opportunities for educators across the programme to interact and communicate with one another whilst in different contextual settings and bases (Chieu & Herbst, 2016). The program was also designed to integrate the co-construction of knowledge and fostering and advocating social interaction between students, their peers, their clinical educators and academics was seen as a mechanism of empowerment for all (Yen et al, 2012).

Relationships and patterns between points of interactivity online provide an insight into students’ behavioural activity and level of engagement, highlighting the affordances and limitations of student online learning activity (Lee & Bonk, 2016).

Strategically, the design of the navigator system focused on three key areas:

• 1.

  Learner/People Interactivity: The potential for academic staff, students and clinical mentors and link tutors using the system to communicate and interact with one another regardless of the context of nurse educational provision (clinical or academic)

• 2.

  Learner Interface: The devices and computer programs that enabling processes of interactivity

• 3.

  Learner Content: The interaction that takes place between the student and the VLE content of relevance to clinical or academic learning