Educators’ perceptions and experiences of online teaching to foster caring professions students’ development of virtual caring skills: A sequential explanatory mixed-methods study (Preprint)

Abstract

Educators in caring professions are required to teach students the skills and competencies needed to provide high-quality and effective care. However, there is a gap in evidence exploring educators' perceptions and experiences of teaching caring professions students about virtual caring skills within online environments.

to better understand caring professional educators' online teaching experiences to foster student development of virtual caring skills and competencies.

We employed a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach, that integrated a cross-sectional survey and individual interviews.

A total of 82 survey and 8 interview participants were drawn from educators from Education, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work. These participants identified barriers (time constraints, underdeveloped curriculum, decreased student engagement and limited access to virtual caring equipment and technology), facilitators (clearly defined learning objectives, technology software and support, teaching support, stakeholder engagement, and flexibility), and principles of teaching virtual caring skills in online environments.

This study contributes to the growing body of educational research on virtual caring skills by offering educator insights and suggestions for improved teaching and learning strategies in caring professions’ programs.