Literature synthesis is a difficult and complex process, and the lack of effective strategies for teaching it is well established in the literature (Blondy et al., 2016; Kearney, 2016; Shellenbarger, 2016; Torraco, 2005). Instead of producing a comprehensive synthesis, students tend be to serial citers, producing individual summaries of each study with a citation following the summary. Serial citations do not transform existing knowledge into something new, nor do they produce new or different perspectives. Therefore, they do not serve to support synthesis.
This article describes an interactive teaching-learning strategy used during an onsite, face-to-face orientation to help new graduate nursing students overcome the tendency to be serial citers. Although the primary purpose is to develop students' beginning skills at performing synthesis writing, there are important secondary outcomes attached to the experience. These include the opportunity for students to be involved in a positive experience during group work while getting to know their classmates. This activity takes approximately two hours to complete.
The teaching strategy titled "Don't Be a Serial Citer. Synthesize!" consists of two phases. The first phase is formatted as an interactive lecture and discussion. The focus of this phase is on defining synthesis and then demonstrating synthesis development using information related to how graduate nursing students choose a graduate program. The second phase involves group work using information about themselves to develop a synthesis essay about the group.
TEACHING STRATEGY PHASE I: INTERACTIVE LECTURE AND DISCUSSION
Defining Synthesis
Students are first asked to identify what they already know about the idea of literature synthesis and to write their own definition. This information is not shared with the group; it is for their eyes only. Next, the students are guided through an exercise that provides the steps required for successful synthesis. The scenario described is for the students to imagine they are guests at a dinner party. During the party, everyone participates in the conversation based on different topics. A recap of the evening would involve summarizing the main topics of the conversation, not individually repeating comments from each person present. Information is then provided from the Drew University Writing Program Online Resources for Writers: "Key Features of Synthesis" (https://users.drew.edu/sjamieso/Synthesis.htm).
Demonstrating Synthesis Using Student Input
After becoming familiar with the definition of synthesis, the students are asked to identify and share the factors they considered when choosing a graduate program in nursing. The responses are listed on a white board for the group to view. Responses from each orientation group typically mirror the information identified by past groups and include factors such as career focus, program delivery, program cost, Graduate Record Examination (GRE) requirements, and accreditation.
Because these factors are identified each semester, they are already incorporated into templated slides demonstrating the introduction and body of a synthesis essay using a templated format (https://users.drew.edu/sjamieso/Synthesis.htm). Headings for slides used during the exercise are as follows:
* Introduction: a statement that sums up the focus of thesynthesis.
* Body of essay: organized by topics.
* Topic identified in first sentence of each paragraph: sources are identified with description of similarities and differences.
* Conclusion: wrap-up sentences remind readers of main themes (examples not provided due to space limitation).
Following are examples of completed slides. For simplicity, the examples show five attendees. However, our attendance at new student orientation ranges from 20 to 150 students.
SYNTHESIS EXAMPLE USING FACTORS RELATED TO CHOOSING A GRADUATE NURSING PROGRAM
This example, developed during the faculty-led exercise, includes information identified by prior groups:
* Introduction: Information about how new graduate nursing students make a decision about which school to attend assists faculty with future planning. Students attending graduate orientation in prior semesters discussed career focus, program delivery (online vs. face to face), program cost, GRE requirement, and accreditation.
* Body of essay (paragraph 1): The career focus of the programs offered by a school was of prime importance to all five students in attendance (student 1, 2016 [stu1, 16]; stu2, 16; stu3, 16; stu4, 16; stu5, 16). A majority of students (stu1, 16; stu2, 16; stu3, 16) stated they were focused only on finding a specific program and did not look at schools without those programs. However, other students (stu4, 16; stu5, 16) began their search for a specific program but then changed their minds when they came across another program that sounded like a better fit with their skills.
New paragraphs are then shown for program delivery, cost, GRE requirement, and accreditation using the same format. For new categories, there can be a slide ready to be filled in that starts "Students attending today's orientation added the following category(ies)."
SYNTHESIS EXAMPLE USING FACTORS RELATED TO CHOOSING GRADUATE PROGRAM (ADDITION OF CURRENT ORIENTATION GROUP)
* Introduction: Recommendations from co-workers were identified by today's orientation group as a critical factor in graduate school choice. Because students trusted their co-workers' advice, this recommendation was given primary importance.
* Body of essay (paragraph 1): All five attendees (stu1, 17; stu2, 17; stu3, 17; stu4, 17; stu5, 17) stated they had a coworker who had recommended the program as they were currently enrolled. The coworker assured the students the program was doable while working full time; faculty responded quickly to their questions, and program directors were helpful in providing guidance throughout the entire program.
At the end of the presentation using the synthesis examples, students are asked to again write their definition of synthesis. They compare this definition to the one they wrote earlier.
TEACHING STRATEGY PHASE 2: GROUP WORK
The next phase involves working in small, faculty-assigned groups. Students use information extracted from their introduction worksheets (completed at the beginning of orientation) to develop a synthesis essay about the group. Examples of information on these introduction worksheets include name, residence, place of employment, college attended for undergraduate degree, and future plans.
The introduction worksheets become the equivalent of data summary sheets used for a literature review. Students are told they can work with the categories on the sheet or create new categories they would like to share, such as children, pets, or vacations. To alleviate worry about formal writing style, students are told they may use a more informal (first person) style for this exercise if they wish.
Synthesis Example
* Introduction: Our group first discussed categories to synthesize. After a lively discussion to reach a consensus, we decided to focus on where we live and the pets we have.
* Body of essay (paragraph 1): In discussing where we now live, we started discussing where we are originally from. All five of our group members are originally from Texas. Three students (stu2, 17; stu3, 17; stu4, 17) are from El Paso, one is from Dallas (stu1, 17), and one is from Houston (stu5, 17). However, because of job opportunities, three of the group now live outside Texas. Two currently reside in New Mexico (stu1, 17; stu2, 17), and one lives in California (stu3, 17).
* Body of essay (paragraph 2): Interestingly, only the group members currently living in Texas (stu4, 17; stu5, 17) have pets. Both have large dogs, which were described by their owners as very intelligent and important members of the family. The reasons given for not having pets include allergies (stu1, 17; stu2, 17) and pet restrictions in an apartment complex (stu3, 17).
Summary
At the end of the exercise, one member from each group reads the group's essay aloud to the group as a whole, allowing attendees to appreciate the variety of ways that information can be synthesized. They also learn more about their classmates during the presentations. As group work generally carries a negative connotation, students are reminded they have just successfully participated in a group exercise, and it was a positive experience.
CONCLUSION
The workshop provides a foundation to assist new graduate students with the difficult skill of literature synthesis. After the experience, students are expected to access additional resources to build on what they have learned, with the understanding that the skill must be practiced in order to improve. They are also provided with exemplars of scholarly synthesis to serve as a model for future reference. Synthesis must be reinforced by ongoing faculty feedback on students' written work during the entire MSN program.
The faculty-assigned group size varies widely, depending on the number of students attending orientation. We have found the exercise to be effective with as few as 3 and as many as 15 students per group. The time needed to read each group's essay aloud is the primary determining factor for the number of groups created per session.
Student satisfaction with the exercise has been consistently high, and faculty have provided anecdotal comments that students' writing skills have improved from prior years. Based on the positive feedback from both faculty and students, we are currently incorporating a focused exercise in synthesis into the program core courses. Although the primary purpose of the interactive teaching-learning activity is to help students develop beginning skills with synthesis writing, the secondary outcomes of being involved in a positive group work experience and becoming better acquainted with classmates have also proven to be highly beneficial.
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