Japanese nurse academics' pedagogical development using collaborative action research

Abstract

Background: To meet contemporary professional standards, nurse educators must provide students with educational content that considers active learning strategies.

Objective: This study explored the process and challenges faced by nurse academics working collaboratively to implement an online problem-based learning course.

Design: Collaborative action research.

Setting: This study was conducted with nurse academics at Yamaguchi University in Japan from May 2020 to April 2022.

Participants: Five Japanese nurse academics and two Australian academics participated in this study.

Methods: Nurse academics met regularly online to discuss issues and plan, act, and reflect on their experiences using Norton's (2001) five-step process. The meetings were recorded, and structured and written reflections from each participant were collected throughout the process. Data collected from the meetings and structured reflections were analysed to identify key themes.

Results: In Step 1, the key stakeholders were discussed and issues were identified. Step 2 included planning a short seminar for the convenience of student participants, Step 3 involved the conduct of an online nursing ethics course (four sessions) for the students, and Step 4 included the evaluation. One year after the academics had completed their teaching, a discussion of future directions was conducted (Step 5). Through the collaborative action research process, four themes were identified: (1) creating a shared understanding, (2) adopting new paradigms for teaching and research, (3) learning and experiences while practicing, and (4) looking back and moving forward.

Conclusions: Despite some challenges experienced, the action research approach enhanced the curriculum development process, provided collegial opportunities to explore and learn together, and led to increased changes in the educational practice of academics, even beyond the collaborative action research.

Keywords: Collaborative action research; Faculty development; Japan; Nurse education; Reflections.