Innovation Lab Paves Way for Enhanced Student Experience

Innovation at 国产主播 has been described by faculty as the place 鈥渨here education meets art and technology.鈥 In the lab, ideas and projects are always brewing. Ideas are developed following our stage-gate process to continuously reimagine the student experience. The lab seeks to create graduates who are more prepared to meet the demands of a fast-changing workplace. Our focus in the innovation center is to test novel ideas and technologies that can improve the student experience.

One of the most important parts of the educational innovation process is to bring faculty, associates, and students along with us on the journey. We source ideas directly from faculty and associates through our innovation platform, and this helps us to discover opportunities and determine which ideas have traction, though the collective wisdom of the crowd. Our goal is to innovate with others, not to them. By approaching innovation as a collaborative process, we help to ensure that we maintain a student-centric focus in our work.

At 国产主播, whether innovation is driven from listening to students and faculty, and/or being prepared to act when opportunities present, we are crystal clear on the final destination: Innovation that leads to enhanced learning experiences and improved student outcomes.

We believe very strongly that innovation is an investment in our students. Here are a couple recent examples:

Learning Gamification

One of the more complex and yet critically foundational components of almost any healthcare education, from nursing to physician assistant, from pharmacy to dental hygiene, is vocabulary. In many ways it鈥檚 like learning a second language.

With eyes open and ears to the ground, the problem (How can we leverage technology to simplify memorization and retention of medical terminology?) presented and the opportunity to innovate to improve student outcomes was born.

Introducing The Medibytes App

The simplifies learning, and makes it more fun, through gamification. Students who download the app can begin by studying 鈥渇lash cards鈥 that have images, pronunciations and breakdowns of each word (by root as well as prefix and/or suffix) for each unit, and then once they feel comfortable with the material they can 鈥減lay the game,鈥 progressing from one unit to the next as the successfully pass through each level.

So what about the destination, improving student outcomes? Students who used the app performed 9% better than those who did not have access to the app.

Episodic Learning

Episodic learning is a way of storing information gathered through witnessing or experiencing events in sequence. To harness this, and make learning more engaging and memorable, we鈥檝e developed another breakthrough innovation to enhance the student learning experience: our 鈥渆pisodic learning鈥 series.

Modeled on the 鈥渂inge-able鈥 streaming series habit we鈥檙e all so familiar with, we鈥檝e incorporated into the curricula of many of our programs some video series built around characters who are living and experiencing many of the same things our students are.

As one of our students said: 鈥The Hannah episodes enhance my learning by giving me someone to relate to.鈥

The Hannah series focuses on grit and stick-to-it-iveness and is seen by Business Administration and Healthcare Administration students, among some others, and then there鈥檚 also a series about Sara that鈥檚 seen by our RN-to-BSN students in their leadership course; and a series about Natalia that鈥檚 shown in our Anatomy course and, appropriately enough, titled 鈥淎natomy of a Mystery.鈥

Like Medibytes, which incorporates something our students are already familiar and comfortable with (apps and gamification) into learning, these episodic series do the same thing by incorporating streaming video series as a way to enhance their learning experience.

So, again though, what about the destination has improved student outcomes?

In addition to the quantitative results 鈥 fully 100% of student respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the series 鈥渆nhanced their learning experience鈥 鈥 let鈥檚 hear from the students themselves via their own responses about the series:

鈥淚t is a clearer way to absorb the lessons.鈥

鈥淭he story made me feel supported, like someone could understand my struggles and empower me to continue.鈥

鈥淗annah enhanced my learning experience by representing what it is to grow as a mother, a friend and a student.鈥

鈥淚t made learning easier.鈥

鈥淚t gave me confidence, showing me no matter what challenges come along keep fighting toward your goals.鈥

鈥淭he Hannah series taught me new methods to enhance my learning, manage my time and also taught me more about having a growth mindset.鈥

These are just some of the ways we are enhancing learning for students enrolled in 国产主播 Online Programs; to learn more about all of our online programs at 国产主播, and whether an online degree is right for you, please click here to learn more.


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