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Exploring and Improving Student Engagement in an Accelerated Undergraduate Nursing Program through a Mentoring Partnership: An Action Research Study

  • Marguerite Bramble EMAIL logo , Hazel Maxwell EMAIL logo , Rochelle Einboden , Sally Farington , Richard Say , Chin Liang Beh , Grace Stankiewicz , Graham Munro , Esther Marembo and Greg Rickard

Abstract

This Participatory Action Research (PAR) project aimed to engage students from an accelerated 'fast track' nursing program in a mentoring collaboration, using an interdisciplinary partnership intervention with a group of academics. Student participants represented the disciplines of nursing and paramedicine with a high proportion of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) students. Nine student mentors were recruited and paired with academics for a three-month ‘mentorship partnership’ intervention. Data from two pre-intervention workshops and a post-intervention workshop were coded in NVivo11 using thematic analysis. Drawing on social inclusion theory, a qualitative analysis explored an iteration of themes across each action cycle. Emergent themes were: 1) ‘building relationships for active engagement’, 2) ‘voicing cultural and social hierarchies’, and 3) ‘enacting collegiate community’. The study offers insights into issues for contemporary accelerated course delivery with a diverse student population and highlights future strategies to foster effective student engagement.

Acknowledgements

A University career development scholarship funded this study.

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Received: 2017-12-21
Revised: 2018-05-13
Accepted: 2018-05-14
Published Online: 2018-05-30

© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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