The Hidden benefits of “poster presentation assessment”: Skill acquirement and learning; evaluated from the nursing students perspective

Introduction
This paper reports to an exercise in evaluating poster group work and poster presentation and the extra learning and skill acquisition that this can provide to nursing students, through a creative and stimulating assessment method. Much had been written about the benefits of using posters as an assessment method, yet there appears to be a lack of research that captures the student experience.
Aim
This evaluative study sought to evaluate the student experience by using a triangulation approach to evaluation:
Methodology
All students from the February 2015 nursing intake, were eligible to take part (80 students) of which 71 participated (n=71). The poster group presentations took place at the end of their first phase of year one teaching and the evaluation took place at the end of their first year as undergraduate. Evaluation involved;
1. Quantitative data by questionnaires
2. Qualitative data from focus group discussions
Results
A number of key themes emerged from analysis of the data which captured the “added value” of learning from the process of poster assessment including:
 Professionalism: developing time keeping skills, presenting skills.
 Academic skills: developing literature search, critic and reporting
 Team building and collaboration
Overall 88% agreed that the process furnished them with additional skills and benefits above the actual production of the poster, with 97% agreeing that these additional skills are important skills for a nurse.
Conclusion
These results would suggest that the process of poster development and presentation furnish student nurses with many additional skills that they may not acquire through other types of assessment and are therefore beneficial. The structure of the assessment encourages a self-directed approach so students take control of the goals and purposes of learning. The sequential organization of the assessment guides students in the transition from dependent to self-directed learners.

Knowledge and acceptance of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and HPV vaccination in adolescent boys worldwide: a systematic review

Aim

To determine HPV and HPV vaccine awareness, knowledge and acceptance in male adolescents worldwide.

Methods

A mixed methods systematic review was conducted. In accordance with PRISMA guidelines, relevant literature was identified through an electronic database search using specified keywords from inception to September 2015. Non-interventional studies presented in English that assessed HPV knowledge and provided data on male adolescents were included. If available, data on HPV and HPV vaccine perceptions, attitudes and/or HPV vaccine acceptance were also extracted. All studies were critically appraised to provide an indication of methodological quality. Results were compiled using a convergent synthesis.

Results

22 papers were included. The majority of studies were cross-sectional and conducted in the US and Europe. Across continents, regardless of a country’s HPV vaccination programme status, boys’ knowledge of HPV and/or HPV vaccination was generally low to moderate and significantly lower than female knowledge or awareness. There was a disagreement in the association of knowledge and vaccine acceptance, with higher knowledge not always being predictive of acceptance.

Conclusions

Comparison and synthesis of research concerning HPV knowledge and attitudes was made difficult due to the lack of universal definition of vaccine acceptance, and no universally accepted tool for its measurement or for the measurement of HPV knowledge. It is imperative that future research utilises consistent measures of HPV knowledge and attitudes to facilitate interpretation and comparison across studies internationally. Prospective longitudinal studies would be more informative providing data on factors that influenced the move from vaccine intention to uptake.