Under the microscope: from bugs to the class room

Abstract

This article documents my personal experiences in entering into research in science education. My role as a science academic has included teaching both undergraduate science and nursing students as well as incorporating scientific research in the discipline of microbiology. Through teaching these two different cohorts of students I have come to realise that they demand different teaching styles and strategies. Previous studies concerning science courses in nursing programs suggest that nursing students have a poor attitude toward the relevance of science in nursing and lack the confidence to study this subject. In an attempt to improve this situation I have taken the approach of investigating my teaching and learning practices in nurse education by undertaking a comprehensive evaluation of the course, and, in doing so I have become more open to learning about new teaching and learning activities. This shift in research experience, from laboratory based to education, has produced an interesting parallel. The new experiences and anxieties I faced in entering into a new paradigm of education research can be seen as analogous to those experienced by my nursing students when studying science in nursing for the first time. This paper provides a personal account of this shift in research and reflects on how my instructional practices in science education in nursing have evolved through a cycle of planning and preparation, teaching, evaluation and reflection.