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DAVIS ADVANTAGE The University of West Florida introduces students to critical thinking early in the curriculum leading to higher pass rates
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“Teaching new nursing students can be a struggle because they want to just memorize. The F.A. Davis products help me expose students to application and critical thinking in the first semester.” Jennifer Richter, DNP, MSN, RN TBSN Program Director and Instructor University of West Florida
Jennifer Richter has been teaching at the University of West Florida (UWF) since 2019 and has served as the Program Director for its traditional BSN program since 2023. The program serves about 150 students annually, many of whom are training for nursing positions in the military. Jennifer is currently teaching the Fundamentals course using a conceptual approach. The challenge: Helping new students adjust to nursing education As the Fundamentals instructor, Jennifer teaches students who are taking their first nursing course. She observes that this can be overwhelming for many students who are accustomed to learning through memorization and now must learn through the application of concepts. Having the right textbook and online tools is important. “First semester nursing students often struggle with determining what’s important and what’s not important. When you have a textbook that provides too much detail, they assume it’s all important and it confuses the students. It also makes it difficult for the instructor because you have to spend time helping them differentiate the important material from the ‘fluff’.” Jennifer also points out that new students struggle with how to study nursing, and they need tools that help them structure their study time. The solution: Davis Advantage for Basic Nursing Jennifer has been using F.A. Davis’s Basic Nursing: Thinking, Doing, and Caring text since she started at UWF. She finds it works well for easing students into the nursing curriculum. It introduces them to critical thinking and is organized in a way that helps students understand concepts. “The book is organized really well. Students struggle with the concepts and this book presents the material in a way that makes it easier for them to understand.” She also appreciates that the Basic Nursing text doesn’t have overly detailed technical content that’s not necessary for the students. “I like that there is not a lot of extra material that I have to weed through for my students. It makes it easier for me to tell them where they should focus.” Students have access to a course calendar that outlines their assignments. Prior to class, Jennifer asks students to “skim” over the assigned reading, review the PowerPoint presentation, and review the pre-recorded lecture. “The expectation is that they won’t know everything about the content, but they at least have a foundation and frame of reference, so they are prepared when they come to class.” Jennifer also assigns the Personalized Learning Modules in Davis Advantage which include pre-tests, videos, and post-tests. “Students are required to get the green thumbs-up on the post-test and turn in their results.”
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“It can be a struggle in the first semester to get students away from memorization; they still just want to read the chapter and regurgitate things back. But by utilizing the practice quizzing and the in-class activities, we see that students are implementing critical thinking earlier in the program than what we saw prior to using these resources.”
In class, Jennifer focuses on active learning. She appreciates the many resources available in Davis Advantage that help her do that. “Davis Advantage provides numerous activities for each chapter, and I use these a lot in class. It helps get the students away from just memorizing content to actually applying the concepts. The activities are very beneficial for this.” One of the Davis Advantage resources she really appreciates is the Clinical Judgment activities. “We start the case studies a couple of weeks into the course because I don’t want to overwhelm the students. We’ll do them in class as a group, and it’s a great way to introduce them to clinical thinking early in the nursing curriculum.” She also notes that the Quizzing within Davis Advantage helps students structure their study time and that they create their own quizzes to help them study for exams. Jennifer points them to their personal dashboards which show their weak versus strong areas. “They don’t always know where their weak areas are. This helps them narrow down where they should spend more time reviewing content.” The instructor analytics within Davis Advantage let Jennifer identify overall class strengths and weaknesses. “This helps me as we’re moving through the course to determine what areas we may need to review and spend more time on.” The dashboards show her which students are using the Personalized Learning Activities and how much time they are spending with those. “This helps me with remediation. If I have students who aren’t doing any of the activities and also aren’t performing well on the exams, I can point out to them that they haven’t done the work to set them up for success.” The result: Students are introduced to critical thinking early in the curriculum leading to higher pass rates Jennifer believes that Davis Advantage is helping to expose her students to critical thinking earlier in the curriculum. “It can be a struggle in the first semester to get students away from memorization; they still just want to read the chapter and regurgitate things back. But by utilizing the practice quizzing and the in-class activities, we see that students are implementing critical thinking earlier in the program than what we saw prior to using these resources.” She points out that this also carries over into clinical. “As we expose them to questions and modules that encourage application, we see that students are making connections sooner and are more comfortable putting knowledge into practice.” Last quarter, the program had a 100% NCLEX® pass rate. Working with F.A. Davis Jennifer enjoys working with F.A. Davis. “Our sales rep is fantastic. If we have questions, concerns, or issues our rep responds immediately. She helps us get new faculty set up quickly and is willing to come out and do training. I have ZERO complaints as far as service. It’s been amazing.” “I would 10 out of 10 recommend F.A. Davis to other faculty.”
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F.A. Davis products in use by University of West Florida § Davis Advantage for Basic Nursing by Leslie S. Treas, Karen L. Barnett, & Mable H. Smith § Davis Advantage for Medical-Surgical Nursing by Janice J. Hoffman & Nancy J. Sullivan § Nursing Now: Today’s Issues, Tomorrow’s Trends by Joseph T. Catalano § Davis Nursing Consult (Mobile & web access to Davis’s Drug Guide for Nurses, Davis’s Comprehensive Manual of Laboratory and Diagnostic Tests & Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary) About University of West Florida Based in Pensacola, the University of West Florida has additional locations in the region and an ever-growing global online presence, offering more than 70 undergraduate degree programs, master’s degrees in 32 programs, specialist degrees in one program, and doctoral degrees in three programs as well as undergraduate and graduate certificate programs. Its mission is to deliver a learner-focused university education that enables students from varied backgrounds to meet their career and life goals. Their research and community partnerships advance the body of knowledge and enhance the prosperity of the region and the state. About F.A. Davis F. A. Davis is an independent, family-owned publisher of educational solutions for the Nursing and Health Science professions. Headquartered in Philadelphia, the city of its founding in 1879, the company is dedicated to developing teaching and learning products that meet the needs of nursing and health science students, educators, and practitioners. The breadth and depth of our digital, print, and online resources across disciplines and specialties reflect our commitment to listening to our customers and to developing innovative products empowered by the technology that is changing how students are learning, instructors are teaching, and professionals are practicing. F.A. Davis Named Top Workplace For the fourth year in a row, F.A. Davis has been recognized as one of the Top Workplaces in the greater Philadelphia area by The Inquirer , the region’s most prominent newspaper and news website. These awards celebrate the organizations that prioritize a people-centered culture and give employees a voice that enables them to meet today’s ever-evolving technological, social, and economic challenges. F.A. Davis was ranked #5 among the top 50 mid-sized companies with 150-499 employees and the only publishing company among all of the winners. For more information about Davis Advantage, visit FADavis.com/DavisAdvantage or contact us at Hello@FADavis.com .
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