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http://jhi.sagepub.comHealth Informatics Journal 2000; 6; 88 HEALTH INFORMATICS JB. Green, D. Jenkins, N. Potter and S. Davies Information technology in nurse education: a multimedia approach to teaching biological scienceshttp://jhi.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/6/2/88 The online version of this article can be found at: Published by:http://www.sagepublications.com

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© 2000 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution. at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on April 11, 2008 http://jhi.sagepub.comDownloaded from vides a research and educational resource fornurses and other healthcare professionals situ-ated within mid- and south-west Wales. Thestudent population is in excess of 2700 (or 1500whole-time equivalents). Educational pro-grammes currently offered by the School areavailable for students who are able to study oncampus and on a number of satellite sites tradi-tionally situated in hospitals scattered through-out an area of approximately 6000 square miles.The School faces a number of challenges. Theseare the need to provide student-centred educa-tional programmes with effective outcomestogether with the need for professional updat-ing within a large geographical area. As a conse-quence we have examined the potential offlexible learning methods, open and distancelearning.

BACKGROUNDThe School of Health Science has identifiedteaching biological sciences to student nurses asbeing problematic. From the literature [1] [2][3] it is apparent that there is no consensus onthe appropriate content and depth of biologicalscience knowledge required by nursing stu-dents. Neither is there agreement about the wayin which biological science should be taught. The results of the Akinsanya and Haywardstudy [1] that examined the contribution ofbioscience in nurse education were incon-clusive. However, these authors identifiedproblems associated with students learning bio-logical science. These were largely attributed tothe teachers’ perceptions of their role in teach-ing the subject, although the lack of a teacher’sspecialization was also indicated as a contribu-tory factor. In addition their study implied thatnurse teachers without a background in biolog-ical science have difficulty in simplifying thesubject for students. This study also drew atten-tion to the dearth of books and course materialsthat apply biological science to nursing. Theabsence of a laboratory approach and the lack ofinnovative teaching methods were also associ-ated with students’ learning difficulties.Trnboranski [2] pointed out that despite previ-ous recommendations for a review of the waybiological sciences are taught there has been lit-tle progress, and the problem persists. Wharrad,Allcock and Chapple [3] established that stu-dents found biological sciences difficult tolearn: those who did not had acquired advancedqualifications in science subjects whilst atschool. Notwithstanding the inconclusivenature of the evidence, the findings were com-patible with problems being experienced by theSchool of Health Science.

Information technologyin nurse education: amultimedia approachto teaching biologicalsciences

B. Green, D. Jenkins, N. Potter andS. Davies

The School of Health Science at the University ofWales Swansea offers programmes for nurses andother healthcare professionals ranging from pre-registration nursing to post-doctoral studies.Biological science is an important component ofthe pre-registration programme, the delivery ofwhich has proved to be problematic. Researchconducted by the school has identified that amore innovative approach to teaching and learn-ing this subject is required. There is a growing body of evidence thatMultimedia Learning (MML) can enhance thequality of education, supporting or replacing thetraditional didactic lecture and providing the stu-dent with information and standards of presenta-tion that have never before been available. Withthis in mind, and responding to the research find-ings, the school has made a substantial investmentin multimedia technology. We have now embarkedon a programme to produce and deliver a biologi-cal science module for nursing students. If theevaluation of the programme demonstrates sus-tainable improvements in learning and offersenhanced quality in the delivery of programmes, itis the intention to extrapolate the biological sci-ence project to other curriculum subjects.