Date of Award
2001
Document Type
Practicum
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Child and Youth Care Administration
Advisor
Marion Gibney
Keywords
academic integration, college transition, educational change, evaluation, evaluation criteria, evaluation model, formative committee, freshman nursing students, gap analysis, Glendale Community College, Health Care Integrated Educational System, implementation, Likert scale, literature review, Maricopa Community College District, needs assessment, nursing education, nursing faculty, nursing program, objective-based evaluation model, orientation program, program evaluation, questionnaire, research questions, specialty orientation, student needs, student success, student transition, summative committee, total quality management, transformational leadership, validation
Abstract
In Fall 1999, Maricopa Community College District (MCCD), implemented a new Health Care Integrated Educational System (HCIES). As part of that implementation, a district wide nursing program was introduced to the students. To help with the process of transition a specialty orientation program has been designed by nursing faculty for first semester nursing students as an extension of the general orientation program for Glendale Community College. The purpose of this evaluation practicum was to determine if the specialty orientation program was meeting the needs of the nursing students. There were two research questions for this practicum. "What is an appropriate evaluation model for this study?" "To what extent does the Orientation Program meet the needs of the freshmen nursing students?"
This study included a literature review investigating concepts of educational changes, transformational leadership, total quality management, freshman student needs orientation programs, and evaluation .. Using the objective-based evaluation model, a two member formative committee helped in the establishment and revision of evaluation criteria and the development of one questionnaire using the Likert scale. A two member summative committee validated the questionnaire utilizing the established evaluation criteria. Participating students were surveyed upon completion of the orientation program. Gap analysis indicated that the orientation program met all the criteria, and that it was a directionally correct strategy for creating experiences that are important to the success of future nursing students. Recommendations were made to enhance the orientation by continuously evaluating student needs for improving student transition into the academic and social system of the college.