Academic skills development for undergraduate nursing students: Can the use of a tool designed to aid the co-production of academic action plans improve student engagement and enhance academic performance / confidence?

Sheffield Hallam University's Nursing Department has been seeking to increase students' independence and commitment to lifelong learning. A self-assessment tool was developed to assist students to synthesise their individual assignment feedback, thereby identifying their year-end performance across 6 domains of academic writing. Results are fed back to students graphically to help them develop an action plan that targets their most significant development priorities. The tool also tracks and plots progress over time through periodic re-assessment as using, and building on prior experiences improves motivation, self-esteem and self-confidence. Reflection is a key skill frequently used within professional nursing practice; however within our institution it has not been used formally in the development of academic skills. It is anticipated that encouraging students to use this self-assessment tool to formulate individual learning goals will increase ownership, enhance self-efficacy and promote independence. This initiative is being piloted with a March cohort of undergraduate nurses to ascertain whether it is a useful way of supporting academic development. Early feedback from both academic staff and students suggest that, with further development and support for staff, this tool could be a positive way to encourage students to assume a greater degree of engagement in identifying and addressing some of the challenges they face with their academic writing.