Shelley Gaudia, Lane Community College Science Division

9/17/04 Report for Paid Sabbatical - Faculty Professional Development

2003-2004 Leave (Winter Term 2004)

 

 

ABSTRACT 

 

My goal was to improve my own understanding of the diverse ways in which knowledge of chemistry is used on the job by health care personnel.  My plan was to interview health care professionals in a variety of employment settings throughout the Eugene-Springfield and Lane County area.  I hoped to gain insight into employees’ perceptions of the importance of chemical literacy in their workplace.

 

 

BACKGROUND  (The ol’ grey mare just ain’t what she used to be)

 

For the last several years, my teaching assignments and the students I work with have been all about health occupations.  Currently, I teach introductory chemistry classes primarily to students who are going to be nurses, respiratory therapists, dental professionals, and emergency medical technicians.  On my sabbatical application, the reason I gave for wanting to do this project was that I wanted to find out whether the chemistry taught in my classes is useful to health care professionals in their work.  I was interested in the reality as well as their perception of its utility. 

 

But the real reason I wanted to do this project was that I was beginning to feel old, tired, boring, and obsolete.  Who was I to tell students what they needed to know, and that they should feel excited about knowing it?  Having been out of the health occupations real world for so long, I felt I had lost some of the confidence that is so necessary to inspire students to learn.  And each year my students seemed to be less prepared academically, less willing to work hard, and more susceptible to anxiety.  Or was this the illusion I hung on to in order to cover my own dwindling motivation? 

 

 

METHODS

 

1) Original Plan  (Little did I know I was barking up the wrong tree)

 

The first step was identifying health care facilities to visit and individuals to interview, and scheduling interviews and follow-ups.  I thought this would take about two weeks, and I began writing interview questions as I set up this schedule of people and places to visit.  My plan was to develop a set of interview questions based on content typically covered in class, and then create a few variations that would be more specific to each job category I encountered.

 

I wanted to know if what I teach is relevant, and in what ways.  And if the curriculum was shown to be less relevant, I wanted to identify methods to improve it (although not as part of this project).  I wasn’t sure how many people I would be able to talk to - I guessed somewhere between ten and fifty - or how much information I would acquire and then have to synthesize.  In the back of my mind, I was uneasy.  Should I try for an efficient quantitative approach, or get to the heart of the matter informally?  But I decided to just get started and let things flow. 

 

As planned, during the first two weeks of the term I wrote a lengthy batch of interview questions, and contacted several health care professionals to interview.  Many were former students and friends who had volunteered to participate in order to help get my project off the ground.  I marched into a local hospital armed with my survey-like instruments, hoping to finish interviews by the eighth week of the term, and to review, reflect, and write during the last two weeks.

 

2) Obstacles  (Quizzing gets you nowhere; bureaucracy gets you every time)

 

After about a dozen interviews, it was clear to me that I had it all wrong.  My survey was too much like a quiz or exam, and people were defensive about their chemistry knowledge (or perceived lack of opportunity to demonstrate it).  All sorts of phobias, anxieties, and frustrations surfaced, and conversations went nowhere.  I had to try a different approach.

 

And since I had exhausted my personal supply of volunteers and needed more people, I began the process of obtaining official permission to do on-the-job interviews at several health care facilities in Lane County.  I am still waiting for the phone tag to end and the permissions to be granted.

 

3) Revised Plan and Implementation  (How I learned to let go and be a spy)

 

Instead of confronting people with a formidable (and quiz-like) set of interview questions, I decided to practice my getting-to-know-you skills.  I became the outgoing party person who would try to engage anyone in a conversation.  And like the ultimate party animal, I would carefully identify my victims in advance, always knowing where I wanted the conversation to go. Somehow, at some point, I would steer my unsuspecting new acquaintance to the subject of school, and work, and the degree of relatedness of one to the other.  And I would get the information I needed as they eventually decided to open up, because I put their comfort first and showed interest in their experience.  No surveys or notepads were ever seen again.

 

I also practiced my stealth and sneaking skills, avoiding official-looking people at all costs while slipping into nurse’s stations and staff lounges.  Learning to look like I belonged in places I probably shouldn’t have been, I searched for stressed employees in need of a brief rest and offered them a willing ear.  I went to dental offices, hospitals, clinics, assisted care facilities, ICU’s and pharmacies.  Personnel included nurses, doctors, technicians, hygienists, therapists, EMTs, and clerical staff, and after a while I stopped counting how many people I had talked with.  I scheduled all my own regular health care activities such as dental exams and physicals, just to get into the offices and have a chance to gab with everyone on duty.  I even crossed the county line a few times.  Spontaneity prevailed over planning and obsessing.  Humor and empathy worked magic.

OBSERVATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS   (The big ah-ha)

 

1) Professional Growth and Value to the College

 

I reflected on my own assumptions and beliefs about the usefulness of chemistry, and compared them with the experience-based knowledge of people employed in the heath care professions.  I was not really surprised by the comparisons.  Differences occurred primarily in details and specifics of knowledge and skills, while similarities occurred in emotional and social attitudes and opinions.

 

In other words, where I was out-of-date or unaware of current technical practices, I found discrepancies between what I thought was important to cover in lecture or lab and what health care professionals might want to learn.  For example, since alcohol thermometers are not generally used (a digital readout provides temperature data) class time is not best spent learning to read a thermometer.

 

But where attitudes and feelings were concerned, there was considerable agreement at many levels - that learning science for its own sake is valuable, that knowing something about the chemical universe is a positive thing, and that knowledge of chemistry can help you be a better worker if the learning of chemistry (or the teaching of it) doesn't kill you.

 

Seeing diverse ways in which knowledge of chemistry is used on the job by health care personnel, and learning about what is current in fields related to my work was definitely the best part of my experience.  I feel better prepared to provide students with up-to-date and relevant examples, in order to facilitate their learning.  It also increased my confidence as well as my desire to step across boundaries, learn more outside my comfort zone, and acquire greater breadth.  Relevance, currency, and congruence of content are essential for the reputation of the college, for the students’ satisfaction with their learning experience, and for the community’s perception of how well Lane is meeting employment training needs.

 

2) Other Outcomes and Random thoughts

 

Met lots of new people… volunteered at a local clinic and ended up spending several hours a week because I enjoyed it so much… developed renewed enthusiasm for using case studies in the classroom…acquired a great resource base of caring people who love to talk about their work…lost my enthusiasm for laboratory component of CH 112 (even though labs are so much fun)… recharged my batteries… new interest in alternative forms of student testing, especially oral interviews… interest in counseling as a sideline…joy in the number of former students who were so positive about their chemistry experience at Lane…dozens of new curriculum ideas…wish I had done this sooner…

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

 

I feel fortunate to work at Lane, and thankful that I was given the opportunity to do this project.  Jerry Ross provided calm support and good advice, and my colleagues in Science encouraged me and picked up the slack created by my absence.   Our community benefits every day from the excellent preparation Lane offers to future health care professionals.