Nursing Curriculum Evaluation Assignment

Curriculum Evaluation Assignment
Curriculum is an important structure of an educational program, as it guides the learner and instructors throughout the courses’ components. Curricula incorporates a variety of elements, from the programs philosophy to outcomes desired to be met (Billings & Halstead, 2012). During this design process each faculty member works together to achieve the best curricula possible. The design process however, is just the beginning. As nursing as a profession grows and changes more focus is being given to graduation of students, pass rates and retention (Billings & Halstead, 2012). For that reason of these changes nursing programs must have continuous evaluation of their curriculum in order to meet the ever changing profession.
Curriculum evaluation is a necessity of all nursing programs as it ensures that students are receiving quality education (Lewallen, 2015).
Evaluation is not just for the program to assess its own quality, but it is also used by governing bodies such as, the Accreditation Commission for Educating in Nursing (ACEN), to ensure standards are being upheld (Lewallen, 2015). The data appraised should be collected from many resources, from beginning to the end, in both formative and summative assessments (Kumm & Laverentz, 2017).
In the developmental stage and throughout the program formative assessment should take place as a way of certifying the programs curriculum is on track, as such the summative assessment should take place at the end as a means to assess outcomes (Kumm & Laverentz, 2017). Resources used in both these forms of assessment include; testing scores, faculty evaluations, and student evaluations (Lewallen, 2015). With the use of this information instructors can measure if the curriculum outcomes are being met, courses are structured correctly and instructional strategies are optimum (Schug,
2012).
Evaluation is a continuous process throughout the lifetime of the program. Throughout the year, all faculty including administration must discuss processes that are working and are not working with in the programs structure. This open communication amongst staff enhances not only the development of the curriculum, but professional development as well. Although staff must communicate throughout the year they must also have a formal meeting to examine specific details (Schug, 2012). These meetings are best completed at the end of a term when information such as, students’ scores have been gathered (Schug, 2012). Specific models and tools are used to guide the committee in the evaluation process. One way to assess such information is through the use of an evaluation tool such as, the National League of Nursing (NLN) Curriculum Assessment Report Card. Below is an example of curriculum from Gulf Coast State College ADN program (see Appendix A) graded on the report card (see Appendix B).
The Curriculum Assessment Report Card is a tool which faculty use to assess each section of the curricula specifically (National League of Nursing [NLN], 2017). This form of assessment has many advantages of use serving as a documentation tool for recommended changes (NLN, 2017). The tool also allows the user to see components within the structure that are lacking.
The nursing profession is every changing and curriculum of nursing must continuously evaluate itself to keep up with the demands. The process of curriculum evaluation can be tedious for everyone involved, but it must be done in order to increase the overall outcomes of an educational program. Each member of the program must collaborate together as an ongoing process giving thought to each element. When completed correctly and continuously curriculum evaluation has the ability to change the students and programs outcomes.