A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Enhancing academic and Practice

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Teaching in the disciplines
experiences of health journeys but less common to include users and carers in practicebased
assessments and assessments involving simulation. Some interprofessional
placements (see section above) ask service users to contribute to the formative assessment
of student teams. Whenever service users and carers are asked to contribute to educational
programmes, significant personal contributions should be scrutinised within an ethical
framework that prioritises the well-being of users and carers above the needs of an
assessment system.
Case study 3: An online discussion forum for mental
health nursing students and service users
This project aimed to develop understanding and positive appreciation of mental
health service users and their experiences and perspectives through mental health
nursing students’ participation in an online discussion forum. A secure project
site was designed and piloted within CitySpace (a Virtual Learning Environment
(VLE)). It featured folders containing welcome messages and advice on posting
messages sensitively (‘netiquette’); practice discussion threads (‘getting to
know you’, ‘anxiety on an acute ward’ and ‘respect’); pre- and post-project questionnaires;
and the enquiry-based learning ‘trigger’. Students and users receiving
VLE training were given ongoing support by the project team, who also
moderated the online discussions.
Evaluation data included pre- and post-project online questionnaires, VLE
activity data, structured interviews with participants, student EBL presentations
and project team reflections. Thirty-five second-year mental health nursing
students and 12 mental health service users participated in the study. Overall,
the project was a great success with students and service users engaging in
online discussions on a range of issues, and two-thirds of EBL presentations
demonstrated new-found understanding of the service user experience and
perspective with implications for clinical practice identified. All interviewees
stated that they would happily take part again and recommend the online forum
to others. Analysis of activity data revealed that while all 35 students had taken
part in practice sessions, just 15 (44 per cent) had contributed e-mails to the
discussions during the ‘live’ debates with service users. Limitations in communication
skills, sensitivity towards service users and lack of confidence in using
IT appeared to limit some students’ participation. Increased facilitator contact
and encouragement may ease this. The service users praised the training and
support provided, eagerly utilised the forum and were keen advocates of the
project.
There is enormous potential to develop similar forums to promote workplace
and interprofessional learning as well as wider application throughout the