As this semester comes to a close, I have begun to reflect on this portion of my journey. While I got off to a rocky start with the many challenges that I had to overcome, I finally received my acceptance for the Nurse Educator component in the College and University Teaching Specialization. I have completed Nursing 7727 Assuring Quality in Online Course Design and, in a little over a week, I will complete Educational Studies 7404 College Teaching and Nursing 7193 Individual Studies. Halfway there, I need to fulfill the remaining requirements. My final three course selections include: Nursing 7530 Instructional Strategies in Clinical Teaching, Educational Studies 7403 Motivation in Learning and Teaching, and Nursing 7532 Teaching in Nursing.

Throughout the semester, I have learned many important teaching fundamentals that I will carry with me as I continue my journey to teach. I have been introduced to a multitude of motivational theories in the college classroom which all suggest that the students’ choice, effort, and persistence equate to their ultimate achievement. I will put these motivational theories into practice in order to ensure my students are motivated to learn through my ability to teach with a sense of purpose. I have gained knowledge in making lectures more effective and learned that grading is not the most important function. I now have a workable understanding of how to facilitate discussions that engage students and enhance their understanding which may be the most complex and challenging task in teaching.

While reflecting on my independent studies, I have had the opportunity to practice a few of the fundamentals that I have been learning. My teaching truly is a work in progress and I intend to rely on student, as well as, peer feedback to guide my progression. I welcome the responsibility for supporting the educational, personal and professional growth of nursing students who will evolve into nurses who provide quality care to ensure the best outcomes for their patients as I have done throughout my own career.

I have successfully navigated the final hurdle of the application process for my teaching specialization. I have been officially accepted into the Ohio State Graduate School’s College and University Teaching Specialization: Nurse Educator component. I was disappointed to realize that there is currently not a Nurse Educator minor; however, it was exciting to learn that Carolyn Schubert and Joni Tornwall (my mentor) have been working on a Nurse Educator minor within the College of Nursing. Of course, when this comes to fruition, I will be at the front of the line when this program is initiated.

On to other news…the second session of the autumn semester has begun and I have new challenges to overcome in my journey of learning to teach. I now have the opportunity to practice the application of knowledge that I learned through my coursework in NURS/ESEPSY 7727 and ESEPSY 7404. I have successfully accomplished the evaluations and responses to a number of student posts. I have assigned grades and provided feedback to “my” students. I was educated in the use of The Five Components of a Helpful Recommendation. Through the use of these components and through the guidance of Joni, I have been able to point out strengths as well as recommendations for improvements in regards to the content of the students’ posts. I feel a great sense of achievement after reviewing the assigned grades and feedback that I provided to students with Joni. She provides such a guiding hand in the direction of my learning process.

After an issue with a software update of Carmen, Ohio State’s course management system, which caused the system to be unavailable, Joni has been charged with the task of recreating the class in u.osu.edu to ensure that our students have the sufficient tools to meet the course’s learning objectives. She has created a blog page outside of the Carmen platform with instructions to the students on how to complete their assignments in a timely manner. Her creative solutions have taught me to “think outside of the box.” As I have personally faced many hurdles in my endeavor to become a teacher, I have learned that even when you feel that you have everything under control, things happen. Joni has taught me that where there is a will, there is a way!

As I continued to prepare for my teaching assignment in ESEPSY 1159 (Online Learning Strategies and Skills) through my independent study course, I found that demand for general undergraduate courses exceeds the supply. Prior to the first week of class, I was given the opportunity to see firsthand some of the tough decisions that must be made by instructors. The enrollment was at its full capacity and bursting at the seams; however, there were a number of students who desired to enroll in the course. They had been waitlisted for the course, and as the start date was quickly approaching, they were realizing that they might not have the opportunity to get “a seat” in the class.

I was privy to this information through the guidance of the instructor, Joni Tornwall, (Joni, as she prefers to be called). I observed email communications and meetings with students who wished to provide additional information as to why it was important to be entered into “our” class. (Our class…words that I had never thought of before…words that gives me chills as I reflect. I am on my way.) Her professionalism and humanism permitted me to witness that there are no hard and fast rules to the decisions affecting students’ education.

Since this course is provided in an online environment, there are no constraints on physical class space; however, the virtual space must be considered. While it is not feasible to admit every student who wants to enroll over the enrollment cap due to workload concerns, instructors will encounter certain circumstances where they must make balanced decisions. Is the student requesting the course for the “right” reasons and willing to put in the effort to meet the objectives and goals of the course? Am I, as an instructor, going to have the ability to fully provide for the students currently enrolled by giving them adequate time and attention to ensure their success? Some of the students’ compelling stories permitted them to gain access to our class. Seeing how these situations can be handled effectively, Joni  provides great encouragement that someday soon, I will also make good, student-centered decisions about enrollment that lead to student success.

I had no idea the rigorous process involved in transitioning into my new role as teacher. I think that I have always been inquisitive…always asking about the next step before finishing the first! I began researching the twisting, turning process by accessing the College of Nursing website and finding the Minors and Specializations section. After discovering that there is, indeed, a “Nurse Educator” component, I began. My first decision came when I had to choose between a specialization versus a minor. I decided that, if I was going to do this, I was jumping in feet first! So minor it is! The difference is in the amount of credit hours required which equates to more work. FOURTEEN credit hours outside my own graduate major AND Nursing 7530 and 7532…could I do this? YES! Yes I can!

Next came the application process that I have not yet mastered! There are many hurdles and hoops; but I must remember…these are challenges that I must jump over or dive through. I will pave my own way if I must. Since I was already a graduate student, I was already taking classes for my master’s degree. I needed to “fit” my teaching courses into my schedule and maneuver the nursing components into the teacher curriculum. This may seem easy but, trust me, it is not.

I enrolled in my first “official” teaching course…ESEPSY/Nursing 7727…this past summer and, as I stated in my previous post, I felt like I had drove in too deep. Then after further review, I figured out that, actually, the first course that was recommended was ESEPSY 7404 which I am now currently taking. This is working out like the “backward design” process that I learned in 7727! Now back to that process…I applied for my minor in teaching through the Graduate School website, only to realize that my application had been denied due to not using the correct course description on the application. I used Nursing 7727 instead of ESEPSY 7727 which, I must make you aware, is the same course!

In the meantime, I found a mentor, Joni Tornwall, who took on the task of providing the support for my independent study course – Nursing 7193. Now I do have to disclose that this blog page is part of my coursework, but I am enjoying creating the blog posts. I hope that by sharing my story it will inspire those “non-formal” teachers to join in my journey of becoming a formal one. Along the lines of my mantra as an emergency nurse…See One, Do One, Teach One!

Whether you realize it or not, at some point in your life, you have been a teacher – probably in an informal setting. As a mother, I began teaching my girls from the moment they were born. None of my friends had children at the time so when they became mothers, and since I was a pediatric nurse, I became the go-to friend for every question they had. On the floor, I began teaching parents and relatives of my patients. At the time, I did not believe that I was actually a “teacher”; however, much later, I realized that I was in fact teaching. As I furthered my career as a nurse and began working in an emergency department, I found myself teaching more and more. I began precepting new nurses and then progressed into new intern physicians.

While working in the emergency department, I began encountering a whole different type of patient and families. Again, I was teaching…from the diabetic patient to the congestive heart failure patient to educating young men and women on the practice of safe sex. That is when I finally realized that I had become a teacher in every sense of the word…that became my “AH HA” moment and that is when I made the decision to move into teaching in a formal setting. As my venture began, my nursing career had already moved into the realm of working on my master’s degree as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner. By adding teaching to my list of priorities, I had picked up a minor to add to my stress. Then I realized, not only that it was important to me, it became more and more important to my patients, as well as, future nurses.

As I enrolled in my first class this past summer, I became very intimidated by the difficulty of moving into a different role…the role of formal teaching. Everyone that I encountered had their PhD or was actively working on it. A lot of my classmates had high level positions within the hospital and I was so afraid of failure that I almost quit. I have never quit anything of real importance to me so I knew that I had to finish what I had started. I had an inspiration when I met Joni Tornwall who has taken so much time with me to ensure my success. So now, I would like for you to follow my journey as I learn to become an “official” teacher!

As specified by the UCAT guidelines for a mentored teaching experience, I will be working with Joni Tornwall on preparation and facilitation of ESEPSY 1159 on the following course goals and multi-level objectives:

Course Goals:

1. Encourage self-regulated learning, active participation, and civility in the online environment through modeling of behavior and supportive guidance.
2. Establish a positive learning environment that is consistent, fair, and challenging.
3. Use existing course content to deliver instruction that guides students to achieve stated learning objectives.

Module-level objectives:

• Review course design of an online undergraduate course and make recommendations for improvement.
• Identify instructional strategies for the online environment.
• Discuss learner characteristics of various course audiences (online/face-to-face, undergraduate/graduate/professional, small-enrollment/large-enrollment, etc.) and how those characteristics affect approach to teaching.
• Facilitate an online course by establishing a teaching presence (per the Community of Inquiry model).
• Establish social presence for instructor and students through use of online interactive features, including discussion boards and announcements.
• Reflect on students’ levels of cognitive presence in the course.
• Provide timely, meaningful, quality feedback to students on graded assignments and other communication, taking into consideration scale of class size.
• Resolve student concerns and issues using classroom management and FERPA-compliant strategies.
• Self-evaluate online teaching performance and reflect on the strengths and challenges of the experience to develop plans for continuous improvement.