Focus Groups With Diverse High School Students Used For Program Evaluation

Focus Groups with Diverse High School Students Used

for Program Evaluation

Dr. Astrid H. Wilson Kennesaw State University

Dr. Susan SannerClayton State University

Dr. Lydia McAllisterSeattle University

Presentation Objectives• Describe a pre preparation program for

diverse high school students• Articulate focus group methodology

including difference from interviews, advantages and disadvantages, ethical issues, and data analysis

• Explain the use of focus groups in program evaluation

• Consider how focus groups could aid in evaluating your programs.

Purpose of Preparing the Next Generation of Nurses (NGN)

Project• The purpose of this project is to

increase the number of minority and disadvantaged students able to enroll in and complete a baccalaureate nursing program

Objectives of Preparing the Next Generation of Nurses

(NGN) Project• Develop pre-entry preparation for high

school juniors and seniors and college freshmen and sophomores

• Develop focused retention efforts for enrolled junior and senior nursing students

• Provide student stipends to support financially disadvantaged students.

Components of the Project• Academic Enhancement Program and

Math & Science Camp for High School Students

• Academic Enhancement Program for Pre-Nursing University Students

• Retention Efforts for University Nursing Students through a mentoring program

• Student Stipends

Pre-entry Preparation for High School Students

• The Academic Enhancement Program consisted of:– Collaboration with Center for Academic

Assistance– Diagnostic testing in math, reading

comprehension, language, and writing – SKILLSBANK 5 computer tutoring– Peer Tutoring – Study time

• A SAT review course for seniors that concludes just prior to SAT testing date

• Cultural awareness program with a national speaker for high school students and parents

• College & Career Exploration Sessions with Mr. Leader

• Assistance with college applications• Review of student high school progress

reports and individualized study plan

Pre-entry Preparation for High School Students

Impact of Pre-entry Preparation for High School Students

• Students demonstrated improvement on their high school progress reports

• Students were able to be admitted to various universities• In 2003 all (15) high school students who took the SAT pre

and post tests improved their scores on the post test • The scores on the post test ranged from 790 to 1050• CCSU requires 400 on Math and 430 on Verbal• 53% (8) students scored high enough to be admitted to CCSU • Of the 7 who did not score high enough for admission to

CCSU scored either a 400 or above in Math or 430 in Verbal but did not score high enough in both areas

Focus Group Methodology

Interviews

• Focus group methodology flowed from interview methodology

• Interviews may be:

• Completely unstructured interview

• Focused (semi-structured) interview

• Focus group interview

Completely Unstructured Interview

• Researcher has no preconceived view of the content or flow of information desired

• Conversational held in naturalistic settings• Aim to elucidate respondents perceptions

without imposing any researcher’s views• Ask broad question, Tell me …• Used in ethnographic & phenomenological

studies (Polit & hungler, 1995).

Focused Interview

• Researcher wants to cover a given set of topics

• Interviewer uses a list of areas or questions – a topic guide with each person

• Each person is encouraged to talk freely about the topics – usually taped

• Most widely used method to obtain unstructured self-report data (Polit & Hungler, 1995)

Assumptions of Focus Group

• Individuals are important resources of information

• People are able to report and verbalize their thoughts and feelings

• A group’s dynamics can generate authentic information

• Group interviews are superior to individual interviews

• The facilitator can help people recover forgotten information (Lederman, 1990 as cited in Morrison& Peoples, 1999, p.63)

Focus Group Methodology• Group of 5-15 members • Fairly homogeneous

group• Combines elements of

group dynamics & qualitative methods

• Stimulates discussion yielding data not obtained with other methods

• Cost-effective way of obtaining data

• Designed to obtain perceptions about a defined area of interest

• Used in nursing education, research, practice & midwifery research

• Used in other social science disciplines

Focus Group Methodology

Populations Studied with Focus Groups

• Migrant children & health• Migrant farm workers &

health• Older Hispanic Women &

health• Youth in rural areas with HIV

prevention• Teenagers sexual health

promotion

Populations Studied with Focus Groups

• Mothers perceptions of children’s needs in shelters

• RNs and health care change• Physicians and asthma self-management• Elderly with age-related macular

degeneration &health education program• Mental health nurses & clinical decisions• Nursing faculty & academic decisions

• Rural nurses and their practice in NY state• African American women & breast cancer• Nurse Practitioners and their role in practice• Adults and diabetic severity beliefs• Spouses of men with prostrate cancer

treatment decisions• Primary nurses and attitudes toward cancer

Populations Studied with Focus Groups

Ethical Issues in Focus Groups

• Over disclosure of participants especially when discussing sensitive topics

• Safety of participants must be in place• Moderator with conflict of interests• Inexperienced Moderator • Researcher must apply ethical theories • Consent, confidentiality, anonymity

Advantages of Focus Groups• Increases the

sample size in qualitative studies

• Obtain viewpoint of many persons in a short time

• Cost effective• Can access

sensitive topics

Disadvantages of Focus Groups

• Some persons may be uncomfortable in expressing their views in front of a group of people

• Produces a great deal of data for analysis

Data Analysis of Focus Groups

• Transcribe tapes verbatim• Perform content analysis• Use software package for qualitative data• Obtain themes and sub-themes• Findings limited to the population studied• Cannot generalize findings

Participants

• 42 junior and senior high school students

• 6 focus groups

• All focus groups facilitators were grant team members

• All focus groups were held at the university where the students were participating in the NGN program

Findings • The content analysis yielded: • 5 themes

– Benefits of the Academic Enhancement Program (AEP)

– Understanding the Role of the Nurse Through Real Life Experiences

– Nursing as a Career Path– Barriers and Challenges Encountered in the AEP– Developing Life Skills – 9 sub-themes emerged with the above themes

1- Benefits of the Academic Enhancement Program

• Sub-theme: Improving Academics• Students responses:• …I enjoyed the biology camp because I admit that I was

not doing well in Biology; I had C’s both semesters and it was boring and our teacher was lame so I can’t believe I liked Biology when I came and did this.

• …I learned some things I didn’t know, such as algebra problems that I didn’t learn when I was in algebra, so that helped me out and I had a better understanding of it.

• I hated geometry in class [high school], but the Geometry class we had here [summer camp] was fun because of the computers and stuff.

• Sub-theme: Enhanced Learning Strategies

• …I used the tapes to help me understand some of my Trigonometry and Pre-Calculus I didn’t know.

1- Benefits of the Academic Enhancement Program

• Sub-theme: Transitioning from High School to College• Student responses• …since I came through this program, college won’t seem so

overwhelming since I know what to look for.• …this program gives you and idea of what to expect, that college is more interesting and bigger than high school, so you kind of get a feel of what you have to deal with when you go to college.• …looking at other people come in and study at their study groups, it made me realize that you are going to study. I know I’m not

going to be able to go to college and just get away it. I’m going to have to use other resources.

• We got to dissect the rat and owl pellets. That was a lot of fun. …we got some college experience just the way that the people were with us …It was more grown up.

1: Benefits of the Academic Enhancement Program

2: Understanding the Role of the Nurse Through Real Life Experiences

• …shadowing a nurse was fun because you go to interact with patients. You got to do basically what a nurse does and while I was there, I actually got to experience two codes.

• …with my nurse, I was on the 5th floor and I remember that my nurse was wonderful. It opened my eyes just for the fact that it was real. We did more than what we did in the intern class. Basically, I thought it was good because it gave us some real good hands-on experience and it didn’t sugar coat anything. It was real stuff!

• …because I want to be a doctor and I wanted to work in the E.R. and I found out that I was shadowing a nurse that had the same name as me and worked in the E.R., I was there with the people and there was blood. I found out that I really liked it and that it is something that I can do.

• I was in NICU and I didn’t really enjoy it because that‘s not where I wanted to go….but it was a good experience.

3: Nursing as a Career Path

• …my view of nursing changed a little bit because I was just going to college and major in some type of science, but now I’m thinking of majoring in nursing and then going to medical school and become a trauma surgeon, but this way, I can have something to fall back on if I change my mind. You can’t really fall back on a chemistry degree, unless I decide to teach chemistry or something. So it made me realize and then when I go into medical school I actually know something about medicine and not just chemistry

• …everything has changed for me since I was in the program. I wanted to be a doctor and I still want to be a doctor, but I’ve decided to get my nursing degree and then go to medical school.

4: Barriers and Challenges Encountered in the AEP • Subtheme: Seeking Assistance• …it was difficult to get help sometimes

because everyone wanted the help with the same subject and there was only one tutor. You really couldn’t get help until they made the hours more flexible and get more tutors.

• …I take anatomy and physiology, but they didn’t have any tutors for that subject.

• Sub-theme: Library Issues

• …they should consider letting us use the library. I know they had problems with it, but most of us come here to do homework and some homework requires us to do research in the library.

4: Barriers and Challenges Encountered in the AEP

5: Developing Life Skills

• Subtheme: The Benefits of Becoming Culturally Competent

• …Dr. Josie made me aware of thing that go on, like how other people view culture and how people are different from one another.

• …she [Dr. Josie] said get to know people before you talk about them because you don’t know what they’re going through.

• …It was really a cultural program that she [Dr. Josie] was trying to put together but she was very laid back about everything.

5: Developing Life Skills

• Subtheme: The Benefits of Becoming Culturally Competent• Student responses• She [Dr. Josie] was spectacular. You guys need to bring her

back because she was amazing and I think her whole presentation was captivating because it was also informative but it was very entertaining and she was just so real

• She [Dr.Josie] was very interesting, she didn’t just stand at the podium and talk and lecture, she interacted with the audience.”

• …I really related to her on many different levels because she’s mixed with different races and so am I, so I was like she was cool.

• My mom love it, she was like you [grant faculty] people need to have more things like this.

• Subtheme: Career Exploration

5: Developing Life Skills

• Subtheme: Socialization Skills• …this program let me interact with people

from other schools and students at the college.

• …It was a pretty good program, not just because it gave you a chance to work on your study habits and homework, also because you got to meet interesting people and make new friends.

5: Developing Life Skills

5: Developing Life Skills

• Subtheme: Developing a Work Ethic

• …I’ve never had a job, so, I always had money but it was coming from my parents, but now I have my own and I have to watch how I spend it because I know it could be gone real easy if I just spend it on things I want and don’t really have to have.

Implications of the Findings

• Program evaluation• Summer camps

– Science faculty bought into program – Math faculty not available – 2nd and 3rd year camps focused on science and

nursing– Best times, scheduling, started later– Hands on experience– More experience in things related to nursing– Used Clinical Labs at school for skills

• Academic Enhancement Program– Liasion to the Center for Academic

Assistance (CAA)– Students high school progress reports

increased– Helped in their transition to college– SAT increased their personal scores– Increased their interest in CSU and knew

of high NCLEX pass rate

• Advisement for nursing program

Use in Program Evaluation

• Qualitative data can help guide program planning

• Academic

Thanks for your participation…Any Questions?