Online Course Engagement Among Undergraduate Nursing Student Veterans

Abstract

As a result of the Post-9/11 Veterans Assistance Act, academic programs aimed at assisting student veterans to become Registered Nurses (RN) are increasing. Accordingly, the number of nursing academic programs being offered online are increasing, yet little is known about online student veterans' behaviors within learning management systems (LMS). This study examined the patterns of LMS use among student veterans who are pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and the association between these behaviors and academic success. A retrospective associational analysis was conducted with data collected from students enrolled in courses in an online BSN program. The multilevel data consisted of 528 students who took one or more of twelve courses. The sample consisted of 23 veterans and 505 non-veteran BSN (non-VBSN) students in 3,793 course enrollments. Veterans were more likely to be male and were less likely to be classified as an in-state resident. Overall, the students engaged in their LMS early and most did not have missing or late assignments. The amount of online time spent in each course and the number of late assignment submissions significantly predicted course grades. No other significant predictors of graduation, discontinuation, or grades emerged. Notwithstanding some demographic differences, veterans appeared to be comparable to their non-VBSN counterparts overall, in terms of both academic performance and online engagement. These results indicate that the time students spend in their online courses can predict program success. The creation of an early-identification process for at-risk students who are not engaging in their LMS might have the potential to enhance educational outcomes even further.

The State of Research in Veterans Studies: A Systematic Literature Review

“…3 Another broad observation on articles published about veterans is that there is very little to no research on policies affecting veterans. Aside from a few exceptions of articles reviewed for this literature (see Caress, 2001), most of the articles within and across disciplines and from JVS still focus on the physical, mental, or social experiences of veterans. This lack of investigation of policy not only exists at the federal level, but at the state and local levels as well.…”

“…For example, there are topics about veteran motivations for public service and volunteering (Lewis & Frank, 2002;Nesbit & Reingold, 2011). Other topics include the implementation of veteran services (Caress, 2001;Dudley & Raymer, 2001), the use of leadership to improve veteran services (Hennessey Jr., 1998;Van Wart, 2015), and women veterans in civil service (Mani, 1999).…”

Promoting a Veteran‐Friendly Learning Environment

“…Such transitional challenges include (a) passive vs. active student role (an increase in student involvement in higher education), (b) pace of learning (military training is usually quick paste and training periods over a shorter period of time in comparison to years for receiving an academic degree), (c) embracing difference with regards to the instructor's role and learning environment (within higher education the instructor is perceived as a facilitator or a guide in comparison to the military where the instructor is recognized as a person of authority), and (d) individualism vs. collectivism (within the military, emphasis is placed on the team concept whereas in higher education, emphasis is on individual learning). On the other hand, the overall structure and protocol with institutions of higher education is less structured and the expectations to follow different protocols from that of the military (Cipher, Urban, Boyd, & Mancini, 2018) such loose structure creates an additional challenge for veterans enrolled in higher education (Livingston, Havice, Cawthon, & Fleming, 2011).…”

“…The underlying question of why aging veterans embrace such challenges in higher education as the first step when transitioning to the civilian workforce as mature or ongoing employees provokes much thought. Veterans, specifically aging veterans over the age of 50 years old, who opt to enroll in higher education, possess unique characteristics based on their military experiences (Cipher et al., 2018). As a result, they are equipped with a vast amount of skills developed during their military experiences, which if transferred to their academic experience contributes to their perseverance, valuing teamwork, global awareness, and increased self‐efficacy (Allen et al., 2014; Dyar, 2016) hence making the challenge of academia doable.…”

Military Veteran Matriculation in US Physician Associate/Assistant Programs

“…Literature in nursing and physician education has shown that veterans are encouraged to apply, and several federal and nonfederal programs exist to assist them into a health education transition. [8][9][10] Similarly, there are efforts described in the literature demonstrating efforts to encourage military veterans to become PAs. 11 This downward trend in percentage of veterans applying to and graduating from PA programs is an outlier considering other data that demonstrate veterans have overall been increasing enrollments in higher education in the wake of expanded benefits in the 2008 Post-9/11 GI Bill.…”