مجله دانشگاه علوم پزشکی بیرجند (Aug 2018)
Three-semester planning of nursing curricula, the strengths and weaknesses
Abstract
Background and Aim: Lack of attention to curriculum planning or reliance on traditional methods will limit the opportunity to use different methods of educational planning. The aim of this study was to evaluate the three–semester planning for the academic year in the nursing course and finding out its weaknesses and strengths in medical universities. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-comparative study, nursing undergraduate course planning base on its educational curriculum was compared in two different (two versus three semester) scenarios. In both scenarios, the educational time per week was 40 hours. According to the distribution of the number of weeks of education, the average educational hours of students in both scenarios were equal and were about 5 hours. Results: The number of teaching days, exams, and inter-term holidays in the two-semester scenario is lower than the three-semester scenario and direct education of students in both scenarios accounts for only 50% of the year's day. In the trimester scenario, the number of course units were less and the teaching hours per unit was higher. The teaching staff activities in trimester planning had more balanced distribution versus semester planning. Conclusion: Recommendation of two or three semester planning has advantages and disadvantages that can be beneficial or inadequate for different academic disciplines and curricula on the basis of education and training potential of the universities.
