Scholarship practice and leadership

Scholarship, Practice, And Leadership in Nursing Education

A volume of empirical research and anecdotal evidence from various perspectives documents the need to improve informational literacy throughout the American educational system (Schutt & Hightower, 2009; Zabel, 2004). Generations of American college students have failed to develop any appreciable research skills and libraries continue to be underused. The consensus among higher education librarians is that the modern college curriculum does not recognize the importance of information literacy and library sciences.

In the era of the Internet search engine, the vast majority of American college students never conduct any academic research beyond consulting Google or Wikipedia; a substantial portion of college students undertake no critical analysis or other objective evaluation at all of the sources of information revealed in informal Internet searches Zabel, 2004). Unfortunately, this is also the case within nursing field at both the undergraduate and graduate level (Schutt & Hightower, 2009). Nursing students tend to relay on the same informal informational searches designed for consumer convenience rather than academic accuracy or critical review before publication. This is particularly harmful to the nursing field in light of the well-documented evidence of the value or empirical research-based nursing (Schutt & Hightower, 2009).

Proposed Solutions:

One suggested solution (Owusu-Ansah in Zabel, 2004) has focused on mandatory library information courses included in the college core academic curriculum. In that form, library science would be a required course for all college freshman or sophomores with subsequent courses available in the course catalogue. Moreover, Owusu-Ansah (in Zabel, 2004) blames university professors for ignoring library science and the importance of teaching research skills in their substantive academic courses.

Zabel (2004) acknowledges both the poor state of informational literacy and library research skills throughout American higher education as well as the need to improve that situation through changes to academic curricula and teaching methods. However, Zabel (2004) absolutely opposes that approach for several specific reasons. According to her, that proposed solution ignores the fact that educational institutions and the families of students are currently facing greater financial challenges than ever before in recent history. In that regard, the current economic climate is forcing colleges to drop so many unprofitable courses that many students are reporting difficulty accumulating enough credits to graduate in the traditional four years of undergraduate education. It is therefore difficult to justify the addition of mandatory library science and research courses purely from the perspective of financial concerns.

Furthermore, the Owusu-Ansah (in Zabel, 2004) approach to improving informational literacy through mandatory library science courses at the undergraduate level completely neglects the fact that research skills cannot be taught effectively in a manner that produces lasting benefits or long-term changes in research practices (Zabel, 2004). More generally, that is a principle of educational effectiveness that mirrors a large body of empirical research documenting the advantages of active learning methodologies instead of the traditional passive lecture and textbook-based approach (Adams & Hamm, 1994) that has characterized American education since its inception two centuries ago in the proverbial one-room schoolhouse.

Zabel (2004) proposes an alternative solution that does not involve mandatory courses or the separate academic focus on library science as a stand-alone course. Instead, Zabel suggests that academic research requirements in substantive courses be adapted as necessary to ensure an appropriate and beneficial process for teaching research skills and informational literacy but strictly within the framework of substantive courses. The author also points out that it is likely much easier to train professors to emphasize formal research skills in their courses than to train library science professionals to become academic instructors, which she suggests is another element overlooked by Owusu-Ansah (Zabel, 2004).

Acknowledging the Effect of Social Perspective and Cultural Influences:

There are other aspects of modern education that have a natural impact on academic research skills. Specifically, college students are products of their cultures of origin. In the United States, sufficient documentation exists to illustrate the degree to which American college students are generally less globally aware and simply less oriented toward information even outside of the academic environment formal (Lauer & Yodanis, 2004).

The results of the Lauer & Yodanis (2004) study suggest that American students (including nursing students) do not respect the difference between informal research and formal academic research. Even more generally, cultural attitudes prevailing in the U.S. tend to over-emphasize the practical goals of vocational training far above an academically or intrinsically genuine subject matter interest in academic courses of study. In all likelihood, this element further illustrates the importance of adopting an approach such as that suggested by Zabel (2004) on an even longer-term and wider basis than proposed by the author.