Curricular Exploration Grants

Research has shown that simulation in nursing education builds student confidence, helps with knowledge retention, and students have reported feeling safe in a simulated scenario—especially when they are uncomfortable or unfamiliar with diagnoses (Cant & Cooper, 2017). Further, many simulation training environments that offer real ‘actors’ test not only skills, but also engages students’ affective responses as well (Al-Ghareeb & Cooper, 2016). Social work students using simulation activities reported transferable skills including handling uncertainty, engagement, making value judgements, and dealing with different opinions and views (Spiteri, 2013). As such, with our behavioral health emphasis at Park University, we believe an interdisciplinary simulation could offer an extraordinary experience to nursing and social work students; the opportunity to collaborate and work together in a manner like the real-world environment they will face upon graduation. The simulation would serve as a model for interdisciplinary active learning strategies that would support Park University's mission, better prepare our students, and promote cross-disciplinary collaboration. This project would study and evaluate the effectiveness of cross-disciplinary simulation from the student and faculty perspective. Results of this work would be shared with the Park academic community and beyond.

References:
Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number (issue number), pages. doi: xx.xxx/yyyy

Measurable Outcomes:
1) Develop and pilot a course using Minecraft, 2) Establish a template for other courses/programs to use when integrating Minecraft in their course work, and 3) Provide a repository of resources on Minecraft in higher education.

Evaluation of Outcomes:

1) The course will be evaluated using student and course surveys to assess learner satisfaction, student learning, teaching effectiveness, and ease of use. The 5-point likert scale will rate the items above and the ability to achieve core learning outcomes through Minecraft integration. These results will be compared with survey results from the same course taught without Minecraft integration. 2) The template for use will be created and shared with FCI to distribute on their website (or other chosen communication channels), to assess the number of downloads or user hits, 3) The results of this project, and all materials/resources used, will be shared with the Park community via a 2-minute mentor or presentation to the faculty. The resources will be shared via the FCI website.

Please feel free to view sample budget using the link provided. Please remember that the project is budgeted for one (1) academic year that the grant is awarded, Aug 1-Jun 1; multiple year proposals will not be accepted. Funds cannot be used for course release or overtime. Hiring consultants to create material is acceptable. No more than 20% can be used as direct compensation to any one person on the three-person spark tank team. If funds are to be used for software/hardware, it should be done in consultation with ITS, to see if faculty can use Park discounts. Coordination with other offices may be required to confirm the feasibility of obtaining your project materials.