Storytelling as an Educational Tool: Digital Case Studies

1. Storytelling as an Educational Tool: Digital Case Studies Stephanie Stelmascuk, RN, BSN, MSN candidate Jodi McDaniel, PhD Joni Tornwall, RN BSN, MEd

2. Course: Pathophysiology of Altered Health States

3. Course Objectives: • Analyze relationships between normal physiology & pathophysiological phenomena across lifespan. • Synthesize current knowledge regarding pathophysiological changes in select diseases. • Describe pathogenesis & clinical signs of select altered health states. • Articulate advanced nursing & pharmacologic interventions for select diseases.

4. Topics • Alterations in: • Inflammation/immunity • Cardiovascular function • Pulmonary function • Digestive function • Neurological function • Musculoskeletal system • Thyroid function

5. Study pathologic changes from micro to macro level….including effects of genetics & life choices.

6. Challenges • Students say: • “So much material!” • “So little time.” • “The concepts are so difficult.” • “I know the content, but have • trouble applying it to real people.” • “I can’t remember all these details!” • “The lectures are so dense.”

7. Case Studies • Purpose: • Develop clinical problem-solving skills • Enhance critical thinking • Integrate basic pathophysiology, • risk factors, physical examination findings, • & clinical laboratory data • Teach appropriate disease management options • Test understanding of main concepts.

8. Case Studies • Why students like them? • “They mimic real life.” • “They make me think in a different way.” • “I just like the stories.” • “I feel like I’m a real nurse trying to solve a • patient’s health problem.” • “They help me learn the lecture material.” • “I learn better when examples are provided.”

9. Case Studies • Older Method of Delivery • Provide scenario of patient’s chief complaint, past medical history, etc. • Ask questions based on scenario, such as: • 1.What pathophysiological mechanisms might • explain etiology of elevated blood pressure in • this patient? • 2. Is pharmacotherapy of hypertension • appropriate…..effective enough?

10. Case Studies • Better ways? • To make the exercise more • Interactive • Interesting • Effective !

11. Digital Storytelling • “Digital storytelling is the art of combining narrative with digital media such as images, sound, and video to create a short story.” (Robin 2008) • “Making content and connections relevant to students’ lives helps bring meaning and purpose to instruction in all content areas” (Dreon, Kerper, & Landis 2011). • Advantages of storytelling (Gils 2005) • More variation from tradition, personalized learning, makes topics for compelling by applying to practice, compares learning to “real life” situations, direct involvement of students in learning

12. What does the evidence say about storytelling in education?

13. Brief Literature Review • Supported by educational theories (Wang & Zhan 2010) • Constructionism: learning occurs when students are engaged in a meaningful and sharable “public entity”; “learning by making” • Narrative paradigm: students interpret actions, words, deeds in a story into something meaningful to help them learn • Successful use in many classrooms: English, students with disabilities, math, science, language arts (Wang & Zhan 2010) • Shieh (2005) found positive perceived efficacy of storytelling by students after they wrote stories applying classroom knowledge and reflected upon them with students and faculty • Lyons (2013) used digital storytelling via online discussion boards and found a increase in perceived student satisfaction and reflective thinking

14. Why case studies? • Forces student to apply classroom concepts to real world scenarios they may encounter • Reinforces lecture material into something personal to student • Digital format allows limitless application of technology • Provides some variation for students, more fun! • Easy to assess student learning after the activity

15. Steps for creating a case study (working backwards) • Determine the important “take home message” of classroom material • “By the end of this activity, I want students to___” • Develop learning objectives • Make sure that students have access to learning material • Consider how your teaching message is relevant to the real world and/or the student’s career • Design a “real world” problem that students can solve • Create a story detailing problem • Integrate digital media- YouTube videos, quiz questions, pictures, sounds, etc. • Incorporate a tool at the end to assess student’s learning • Consider incorporating evidence-based/ peer-reviewed publication?

16. Learning objectives - pneumonia case study • Students will be able to: • Understand pathophysiology of community-acquired pneumonia • Identify different atypical & typical causative organisms • Incorporate pathophysiological principles into clinical presentation of CAP • Formulate baseline understanding of diagnosis & treatment of CAP

17. Developing case study • Summarized pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, diagnostic testing, and treatment in first half • Added a peer-reviewed, evidence-based article on CAP for students to read prior to case • Created story about a patient in second half • Integrated quiz questions throughout case to assess learning • Used visual aids to illustrate patient scenario • Final assessment of knowledge through Carmen quiz • Collaborative: students allowed to work with others

26. Areas for improvement? • Add more elements to personalize: • Sound recordings of instructor, patient and practitioner dialogue, etc. • Include sound bits (i.e. breath sounds, heart sounds) • Humor • Incorporate reflection Seven elements of digital story telling: • Point of view • A dramatic question • Emotional content • Gift of your voice • Power of soundtrack • Economy • Pacing (Lambert 2006)

27. Your Turn • Design a case study of your own • Follow the steps on your handout • Tell a colleague your story • Decide how you’ll present your case study to your students

28. Delivering your Case Study • The blog for case studies: U.OSU.EDU • Adding pages • Adding quizzes using Google forms • Menus and navigation • Branching logic and page organization

29. Questions? • Jodi McDaniel (.561) • Stephanie Stelmaschuk (.2) • Joni Tornwall (.2)