Teachers' experiences of English-language-taught degree programs within health care sector of Finnish polytechnics

The purpose of this study was to research teachers' experiences of the English-Language-Taught Degree Programs in the health care sector of Finnish polytechnics. More specifically, the focus was on teachers' experiences of teaching methods and clinical practice. The data were collected fro...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nurse education today 2011-08, Vol.31 (6), p.553-557
Main Authors: Pitkajarvi, Marianne, Eriksson, Elina, Kekki, Pertti
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitude of Health Personnel
Clinical experience
Clinical practice
Content analysis
Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate - methods
Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate - organization & administration
ELTDP
English language
Faculty, Nursing
Finland
Focus Groups
Health Care Sector
Health services
Humans
Language
Multiculturalism & pluralism
Nursing
Nursing education
Nursing Evaluation Research
Polytechnics
Qualitative Research
Teachers
Teaching - methods
Teaching method
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The purpose of this study was to research teachers' experiences of the English-Language-Taught Degree Programs in the health care sector of Finnish polytechnics. More specifically, the focus was on teachers' experiences of teaching methods and clinical practice. The data were collected from eighteen teachers in six polytechnics through focus group interviews. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. The results suggested that despite the positive interaction between students and teachers, choosing appropriate teaching methods provided a challenge for teachers, due to cultural diversity of students as well as to the use of a foreign language in tuition. Due to students' language-related difficulties, clinical practice was found to be the biggest challenge in the educational process. Staffs' attitudes were perceived to be significant for students' clinical experience. Further research using stronger designs is needed.
ISSN:0260-6917
1532-2793
DOI:10.1016/j.nedt.2010.10.032