ABSTRACT
AIM: The aim of the study was to answer the research question: What is known from the literature about academic grading practices and grade inflation in nursing education? BACKGROUND: Nursing students require authentic assessment that supports their professional formation. For teachers and students, integrity is fundamental to professional nursing excellence. METHOD: Arskey and O'Malley's framework was used to integrate and reinterpret findings from qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method studies. RESULTS: Twelve studies were reviewed. Contributing factors are described as institutional constraints, external standards, team teaching, lack of faculty confidence, and student incivility. Strategies that may mitigate grade inflation include establishing grading expectations and increasing pedagogical rigor with precise rubrics, valid and reliable examinations, interrater reliability, and faculty development. CONCLUSION: Academic grading is a complex faculty responsibility grounded in ethical and relational competencies that can support or hinder students' professional formation. Evaluation of strategies to mitigate grade inflation in nursing education is urgently needed.
Subject(s)
Education, Nursing , Students, Nursing , Faculty , Faculty, Nursing , Humans , Reproducibility of ResultsABSTRACT
Nurse educators share a common goal: To foster student development in ways that fully prepare graduates for the challenges of contemporary practice. As patient acuity continues to escalate the responsibilities of the nurse and the nurse educator have become daunting. Contemporary practice requires a self-authored perspective that allows the nurse to appraise knowledge, weigh evidence, make autonomous decisions, and question authorities when warranted. Nurse leaders have called for transformation in nursing education through the application of evidence-based pedagogies that promote complex thinking and professional formation. This article introduces self-authorship theory and constructive-developmental pedagogy as a framework for enacting the pedagogical reform called for by nursing leaders. Drawing on the Carnegie study recommendations for nursing education reform, the article describes three constructive-developmental principles faculty can incorporate into their current practice to foster student development towards self-authorship and describes the implications of constructive-developmental pedagogy for substantive transformation in nursing education.
