The advent of COVID-19 requires that we consider what change means relative to the evidence that is generated. Of utmost concern is whether study findings will advance the science of nursing education. One way to address this concern is to view these next few months as a critical time to examine what students are learning.
First and foremost, the Editorial Board and I hope you and your loved ones are well. The speed with which the coronavirus entered our lives is unsettling and has contributed to incredible challenges for us all. I am impressed and awed by the generosity of nurse educators, who continually share their resources and step up to help their colleagues. We need to draw on our long history of resilience and support for one another as we adapt to a new reality of life and professional work.
Spring 2020 will not be a semester soon forgotten. We quickly moved all classes, meetings, events, and some conferences to online delivery, raising questions for some of us about our online preparedness and how to assess our students' competence before sending them off as graduate or advance practice nurses. Likewise, given the need to change course delivery format, we have had to shift our professional priorities, placing research and scholarship on hold temporarily. Irrespective of our experiences, we need to learn from this crisis and continue to generate best teaching practices.
As editor of a journal whose focus is research in nursing education, I have been wondering what the impact of this pandemic has been - and will continue to be - on research productivity, scholarship dissemination, and the integrity of the research protocol. It is likely that sheltering in place has resulted in delays at every point in the research process, for studies already in progress and those being planned. Research activities may have had to be ramped down and protocols revised. The institutional review board approval process may have been delayed, contributing to difficulties recruiting subjects, altering data collection methods, and requiring changes in protocol. Finally, numerous conferences have been canceled, impeding the dissemination of findings.
Although the safety of research participants is always at the forefront of any protocol change, the advent of COVID-19 requires that we consider what change means relative to the evidence that is generated. Of utmost concern is whether study findings will advance the science of nursing education. One way to address this concern is to view these next few months as a critical time to examine what students are learning. Zimmerman (2020) suggests that now is the time to find out what students "actually learn when we teach them online" (p. 2).
Zimmerman proposes that the pandemic has created a natural learning experiment, and it behooves us to seize the opportunity and examine the evidence of learning. How we do this will require rigorous methods. However, faculty in instructional design and technology disagree. Hodges et al. (2020) describe what we are experiencing in this temporary shift to online delivery as emergency remote teaching (ERT). They argue that, although it may be tempting to compare online learning with face-to-face instruction under the current circumstances, rapid transition to online delivery cannot be compared to well-designed, effective online education, which requires significant time investment and pedagogical knowledge. Faculty and students are stressed under current circumstances for multiple reasons, thus changing the teaching/learning environment substantially. This is not the natural environment. Online programs are more than putting a course on a web-based platform. According to Hodges and colleagues, "Those who have built online programs over the years will attest that effective online learning aims to be a learning community and supports learners not just instructionally but with co-curricular engagement and other social supports" (p. 8).
Given these concerns, perhaps we should consider using the framework of ERT to guide research questions that will advance the science of nursing education. We need to evaluate our teaching practice since we will want to retain the creative and effective strategies that have been generated, such as online clinical assessment. Hodges et al. (2020) suggest that the evaluation of "ERT will require broader questions" (p. 14) and "be more focused on the context, input, and process elements than product (learning)" (p. 17). For example, what have institutions learned about their infrastructure during this transition? Has professional faculty development been adequate to make this transition, and what will be needed for the next pandemic?
Given the multiple factors impacting the teaching/learning process, what students learned or did not learn and end-of-semester grades may not be relevant at this point for research purposes. Perhaps the question to consider is whether grades really are relevant. Many institutions have allowed students the option of pass/fail this past semester, highlighting another reason why a focus on outcomes may not be meaningful at this time. Perhaps educators should consider how well student performance reflects student competency.
How can we mitigate the impact of this unprecedented disruption on ourselves and our research activity? As routine and a sense of the new normality begin to emerge, our programs of research will again become a priority. Summer is often the time we reengage and immerse ourselves in our scholarship. Using the acronym SMART goal setting (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely) may provide a sense of direction and guidance as we work toward our professional goals while setting aside time for ourselves and our personal goals.
As we transition into this new normal, recall that we need evidence to support novel, creative approaches to educate the next generation of nurses. Nursing schools need to prepare for future pandemics and disasters to minimize disruption in teaching (Zerwic & Rosen, 2016) based on well-developed plans and evidence. This journal issue offers some innovative ideas for online delivery in the Innovations Center. These ideas are a first step in designing a feasibility study, perfect for future dissemination in the Research Briefs section.
Lastly, the Editorial Board has decided that the 2022 special issue of Nursing Education Perspectives, to be released at the annual NLN Education Summit, will focus on Educating During Times of Crisis, with co-editors Drs. Karen Frith, Audrey Beauvais, and Linda Roney. What research questions will you have asked? What evidence will you bring forward based on questions asked with the ERT framework? Start now to design robust studies that will help nurse educators be better prepared for the next pandemic - which we know will happen.
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