title: Poetry as an engagement strategy: A novice teacher experience of its use within lectures.
abstract: It has been acknowledged the traditional lecture format is a familiar teaching methodology and that there is still much to be learnt from using this in class room based lectures. Whilst the first author was a postgraduate student undertaking a programme in Nurse Education at a University in the Republic of Ireland, poetry was used to challenge undergraduate nursing students' attitudes towards older persons in a large group format. The students were in Year 3 of a Bachelor of Nursing Science General and Intellectual Disability Programmes. Feedback was obtained from the students that comprised of three main themes; Aids Recall of Information; Enriched Learning Experiences, Challenges Attitudes to Person Centred Care. Thus, the paper aims to evaluate using poetry as an engaging teaching strategy within a lecture format for the first time as a novice teacher when drawing out nursing students' attitudes towards older persons with a focus on supporting them in embracing key care skills in the clinical setting. This paper should provide other student educationalists the opportunity to see the value of poetry as a teaching strategy and provide practical tips on its use within the classroom.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Health Sciences and Disability Studies, St Angela's College, A College of the National University of Ireland, Galway, Lough Gill, Sligo, Ireland. Electronic address: dhealy@stangelas.nuigalway.ie.
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Healy
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, National University Ireland, Galway Aras Moyola, Upper Newcastle Road, Galway, Ireland. Electronic address: siobhan.smyth@nuigalway.ie.
authors.forename: Siobhan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Smyth
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003479:Curriculum / Q000592:standards; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000379:methods; D011037:Poetry as Topic; D018794:Problem-Based Learning / Q000379:methods; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D013663:Teaching / Q000592:standards*
keywords: Attitude; Engagement; Lecture; Older person; Poetry; Teaching strategy