title: A facilitative approach to learning about curriculum development.
abstract: Graduate students have high ambitions and desire excellence in their work. Creating learning opportunities that capture this drive and help them achieve and exceed their goals is a challenge for educators. This article describes two teaching approaches, group process and an adaptation of Bensusan's escalator model, which were used in a graduate nursing course to help students learn about curriculum development. Students participated as a faculty group, submitting successive iterations of their work as they developed hypothetical curricula. Benefits students identified from course faculty's critiques of their submissions included experiencing enhanced self-direction, self-esteem, and mutual respect among students and between students and course faculty, as well as authentic curriculum development in a safe, caring, and supportive context. This article discusses the strengths and limitations of this pragmatic and productive learning approach to preparing future nurse educators for their role as curriculum developers.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Nursing, The University of Western Ontario, HSA #3a, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C1. dgoldenb@uwo.ca
authors.forename: Dolly
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Goldenberg
authors.forename: Mary-Anne
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Andrusyszyn
authors.forename: Carroll
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Iwasiw
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003479:Curriculum; D004511:Education, Nursing, Graduate / Q000379:methods*; D005181:Faculty, Nursing; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D019359:Knowledge; D007858:Learning; D017145:Models, Educational; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011588:Psychology, Educational; D012649:Self Concept; D012944:Social Support; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*