UROP Leader Information Submission: Submission #210

What is your current research focus? Technology in education has been an up-and-coming catalyst for researchers in aiming to evaluate its most effective methods of use. The specialization of technology-fueled education in the medical/healthcare education setting is a particular area of study that initiated the onset of this project. There exists a theoretical framework of Kolb's Experiential Learning Cycle that consists of four components: active engagement, reflection, theory development, and application. To put it simply, Kolb’s cycle emphasizes the idea that the most effective learning is done through doing-and-reflecting. This project combines the introduction of technology in healthcare education and the experiential learning theory framework to provide the foundation for this project’s assessment of subject-specific simulation efficacy in fostering deeper learning in a healthcare/medical education setting.
There exists a gap in nursing students with linking technical knowledge to clinical practice. Students’ difficulty in transitioning from learning that is done in the classroom to a more demanding hospital environment reveals a major shortcoming of healthcare education.
The end goal of this research is to formulate a bridge between the inside of a classroom and the application of that knowledge in a real hospital setting. This project is an initiation of applying the principles of Kolb’s experiential learning theory to the learning process of nursing students at Florida State University, with a greater intention of establishing new approaches using technology to better healthcare education.