A team approach to delivery of contextually relevant bioscience: encouraging student connections between tacit knowledge and new content acquisition

Abstract

Background: Bioscience is essential knowledge for nursing practice and is an important component of undergraduate nursing education, however students commonly feel anxious about studying the subject. The purpose of this study was to develop appropriately scoped contextually relevant bioscience lesson resources to enhance student engagement and performance and reduce attrition and unit failures over a sustained period. Methods: Participants included students enrolled in the core bioscience unit for an undergraduate Bachelor of Nursing degree from a central campus and a widening participation (WP) campus. From 2016 to 2018, unit learning resources were progressively revised to include a structured learning and teaching manual, signposted lectures, and digital resources. Online surveys and formal institutional data collection metrics were used to assess the impact of the changes to unit learning resources. Results: Student attrition rates and failure rates for the unit were reduced over a two-year period across a diverse student cohort. Conclusions: Scaffolded and diverse learning materials support the success of undergraduate bioscience students by improving student engagement and reducing cognitive load.