Selecting Concepts for a Concept-Based Curriculum: Application of a Benchmark Approach

Abstract

In response to a transformational movement in nursing education, faculty across the country are considering changes to curricula and approaches to teaching. As a result, an emerging trend in many nursing programs is the adoption of a concept-based curriculum. As part of the curriculum development process, the selection of concepts, competencies, and exemplars on which to build courses and base content is needed. This article presents a benchmark approach used to validate and finalize concept selection among educators developing a concept-based curriculum for a statewide nursing consortium. These findings are intended to inform other nurse educators who are currently involved with or are considering this curriculum approach.

Using document analysis to identify core concepts for dietetics: The first step in promoting conceptual learning

“…Exemplars contextualize the concept and help students understand how the concepts apply in practice (Hendricks & Wangerin, 2017). In curriculum designed for health professional education, exemplars are based on incidence and prevalence of health problems within populations, or those of professional significance, and are relevant across the lifespan and within any context (Giddens, Wright, & Gray, 2012). A concept-based curricular design also requires active student-centered teaching and learning strategies to promote a deeper level of understanding in students through the use of higher-order cognitive thinking to organize content into concepts, thus developing critical thinking skills (Erickson et al, 2017;Hardin & Richardson, 2012).…”

“…Core concepts can be identified through brainstorming from expert committees, surveying academics, benchmarking, or thematic analysis of topics and themes in existing curricular. There are challenges with this approach as there can be inconsistency in the distinction between a concept and content (Rowland et al, 2011) and in the range of concepts included in concept-based curriculums between different academic programs (Giddens et al, 2012). Concepts can also be generated from either the facts and topics (knowledge) or the skills and strategies (process) defined by the discipline (Erickson et al, 2017).…”

Triangulating Competencies, Concepts, and Professional Development in Curriculum Revisions

“…During this 2-day retreat, held several months after the second retreat, we considered the rationale for a conceptual curriculum, achieving consensus to use concepts as an organizational force and teaching methodology. [11][12][13][14] Using a nominal group technique 15 to develop a concept list, we gained quickly the direction needed to create an organizing structure. In this approach, faculty listed every item that they thought might be a good concept to use in the curriculum.…”

Kakovost problemov, obravnavanih pri problemskem učenju: ocena študentov zdravstvene nege

“…Strinjamo se z Dillard in Siktberg (2009), ki navajata, da morajo visokošolski zavodi v današnjem hitro spreminjajočem se svetu izvajati številne spremembe za uspešno soočanje z izzivi prihodnosti ter upoštevati predvsem kakovost programa za vse bolj raznoliko populacijo študentov. Mnogi avtorji (Giddens & Brady, 2007;Brandon & All, 2010;Giddens, et al, 2012;Hardin & Richardson, 2012) ugotavljajo, da večina prenovljenih učnih načrtov s področja zdravstvene nege vključuje sodobne metode poučevanja.…”