This study examined the effectiveness of distance education compared with campus based learning among nursing students. Distance education in nursing curricula is increasing. Academic nurse leaders must demonstrate the effectiveness of distance learning. This study is unique in that two cohorts, distance learners and campus learners, were taught synchronously by the same faculty member. Quantitative measures of student learning outcomes were compared using SPSS. There were no significant differences in learning outcomes between distance learners and campus learners. This study provides empiric support for distance education as a means to address the nursing shortage.

The study investigated the characteristics of instruction and assessment used by instructors in teacher education courses that foster student competencies as perceived by students. The sampling method used to collect the sample of instructors and their courses was purposive, non-probability sampling. Student participants included those that were currently registered in classes of the respective instructors. A qualitative analysis of the data collected revealed that instructors used a variety of competency-based educational practices in their instructional and assessment tasks and that students perceived themselves as competent in the areas identified by the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (2009) as standards for student competencies in teacher education courses.

This paper examines how plagiarism is viewed on college campuses and the resultant punitive consequences that follow. In this case, a college administrator must determine whether two graduate education students should be expelled as a consequence of having certain passages appearing from websites and journal articles without attribution in first two theses drafts. In assessing what contributed to this infraction, the college administrator determined that the students had never received direct instruction in plagiarism and how to avoid it. Working collaboratively with the referring faculty member, a 3-session instructional program was designed to teach how to paraphrase and use citations in tandem with an overcorrection procedure of positive practice coupled with restitution. The culminating session required each student to design a 5-lesson module on plagiarism and how to avoid it for their program peers. They also met with their faculty instructor to review the changes they had made in their drafts resulting in reinstatement in their research course. The entire process helped the academic program faculty recognize that the topic of plagiarism and skills necessary to avoid plagiarism required direct instruction at various points throughout the overall program to prevent students from encountering severe penalties.