Running Head: A1 – ARTICLE CRITIQUE 1

Adult Development & Collaborative Learning

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 3

1.1 Purpose of the Article ....................................................................................................... 3

1.2 Main Findings .................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

1.3 Research Question ............................................................................................................ 5

2. Article Summary...................................................................................................................... 5

2.1 Purpose and Critical Analysis of Findings ....................................................................... 5

2.2 Discussion on the Study’s Methods and Critique on the Literature ................................. 7

2.3 Strengths and weaknesses of the Reviewed Paper ........................................................... 8

3. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 9

4. References ............................................................................................................................. 11
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1. Introduction

1.1 Purpose of the Article

There are many important topics within the study of adult development and collaborative

learning; mentorship programs is one of those important topics. The topic of this report is adult

development and collaborative learning. Assessing the effectiveness of learning models is

important in adult education. Generally, there are two models: the 1‐to‐1 model which is used to

provide individual attention to the learner and students tend to enjoy the personalized lessons and

gain quick feedback. However, the second is a collaborative mentorship model which is the

development of relationships or networks by mentees with the diversity of people to satisfy their

individual learning needs (Bung, 2015).

Following the topic, this document will critically review a study conducted by Harvey and

Uren (year) on the topic, “Collaborative learning: Application of the mentorship model for adult

nursing students in the acute placement setting”. The paper aimed at discussing the impact of the

mentorship model used by higher education institutes (HEI) and district hospitals on the

development of adult nursing students who are working in the acute setting in the healthcare

institution situated in the South West of England. Collaborative learning is an already developed

model as an effective mentorship. The purpose of the article was to discuss the collaborative

learning method as an effective and efficient mentorship model and its implementation for the

development of nurses and their self-directed learning.

The purpose of this critique is to discuss the main findings of the selected article in detail and

identify the strengths and weaknesses of the paper. Further, this critique provides

recommendations for future improvements of the selected paper based on evidence.

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1.2 Research Findings

The main findings of the paper are that the old 1:1 model of mentorship that was mentor

centric and facilitating the individual needs of students, was not appropriate due to the lack of

time to facilitate the learning. The ineffectiveness of the 1:1 model of mentorship forced

institutions to adopt the collaborative model of mentorship at the international level. For

example, being a mentor-centric model, the model was focused on teaching things to students

rather than helping them in their learning. Students were often unable to learn the things that

were needed by them or the areas in which they were lacking. Further, this model also includes a

lack of time issues that can facilitate the learning on a 1 to 1 basis (Lobo et al., 2014). The main

findings of the paper further found that collaborative learning contains multiple benefits. The

collaborative approach is beneficial for students to get them involved in the decision making,

holistic care, and multidisciplinary teamwork. Collaborative learning delivers students with more

skills such as planning care skills, identification of deteriorating patients, documentation and

handing over skills by enabling them to have self-learning through which students learn the skills

in which they lack and need improvement. Student nurses are proactive with their learning needs,

which means they are self-directed towards their learning. Further, collaborative learning also

encourages students to coach each other which is another way of self-directed learning.

Collaborative learning reduces the burden of mentoring by enhancing the self-directed learning

of student nurses and keeping them responsible for evaluating their learning needs. The

collaborative model highly values peer support and offers an opportunity to the students to share

their knowledge and develop leadership and teamwork skills. The collaborative mentoring model

develops students for managing their work efficiently due to the appropriate supervision and

support provided to them.

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1.3 Research Question

The main research question posed in the article was:

Q1: What is the impact of implementing collaborating learning as a mentoring model on the

adult nurses' development in the acute placement setting of higher education institutes (HEI) and

district hospitals in the South West of England?

The purpose of this critique is to discuss the main findings of the report in detail and find out

the strengths and weaknesses of the paper. Further, this critique provides recommendations for

future improvements of the selected paper based on evidence.

2. Article Summary

2.1 Purpose and Critical Analysis of Findings

The main purpose of the paper was to assess the influence of implementing the collaborative

learning model as a mentorship model on the development of adult nurses in the acute care

placement setting. The article for the attainment of the research purpose used different learning

theories that are designed for adult learning such as peer-to-peer learning, collaborative learning

theories, coaching, and mentoring theory as put forward by (Bachkirova, Jackson & Clutterbuck,

2021). The article discussed two core models of learning including the collaborative learning

model and the 1:1 model of learning. Stating 1:1 as relatively old learning model, the authors

discussed the collaborative learning model as a solution to the problems.

The main findings of the paper disclosed that collaborative learning is an opportunity for

students to get involved in holistic care. The selected article found that collaborative learning

enhances the multidisciplinary skills of nurse students that also include decision-making skills.
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This means that collaborative learning is a way of enhancing the multi-disciplinary skills of

students that also include their ability to develop decision-making skills. The multidisciplinary

skills also include the development of planning skills, finding out the deteriorating patients,

handing over and documenting skills in students as a result of collaborative learning.

The second main finding of the article is that collaborative learning encourages students to be

proactive and autonomous with their learning needs, and become self-directed learners. Further,

the research outcomes disclosed that being the mentor of each other, students share their

experience and knowledge related to their problem solving and learning skills to help each other

in the problems that they face on daily basis. The third finding of the article is the development

of learning culture due to collaborative learning. The article revealed that the trend of students to

encourage themselves to coach those who are in need or require along with the sharing of their

previous experience can make a significant difference in the adult nurses’ development. Further,

the article unleashed the fact that collaborative learning just not allows organisations to reduce

their mentoring burden, but it enhances the self-directed learning approach among employees so

they take responsibility to evaluate development needs and provide care to their patients more

effectively. These self-directed learnings play an immense role in adding value to organisational

services. Jeong and Hmelo-Silver (2016) also supported the fact that collaborative learning

encourages the learning and knowledge sharing culture within the organisations. Huggins (2016)

also stated that collaborative learning as a mentoring model is a way of offering effective care to

patients.

The third finding of the article is that the support of peers is one of the key elements in the

collaborative learning environment. The article also discussed the most effective application of

online adult collaboration to facilitate engagement, quality, flexibility, and learning interest. The
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article disclosed that the use of an online assessment tool is a collaboration tool for all mentors in

the students to record their inputs and ensure their contribution to the evaluation process. Online

assessment is a way of gaining and maintaining the interests of students in a learning process and

keeping them engaged.

The fourth findings of the research disclosed that collaborative learning ensures that the

students’ mentors are not overloaded and responsibilities are divided fairly. The study found the

impact of collaborative learning on value creation and organisational learning within the

organisation. For example, the research outcomes unveiled that collaborative learning as a

mentorship model visibly helps students in developing their organisational and leadership skills

and promotes effective team working skills that result in adding value to patient care and

therefore organisation’s value creation.

2.2 Discussion on the Study’s Methods and Critique on the Literature

The study used the primary data collection method of qualitative research. The research used

placement diaries that include the experiences of individuals, comments, and quotes based on

their practices. All information that comes directly from the individuals is known primary data

collection sources (Harvey & Uren, 2019). The researchers were underway collecting data

through a focus group and intended to report the finding in their upcoming publication.

According to Carey and Asbury (2016) focus group is an effective technique in clarifying and

testing pre-conceived findings and notions. Using the focus group, it would become easy for the

researcher to find out the unmet needs of customers. A Focus group would allow understanding

the effectiveness of the current processes and the things that have not been addressed before. The

research conducted by Harvey and Uren (2019) took advantage of a focused group study and
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found the benefits that students reported for their development in return to the application of

collaborative learning. The study analysed the data through the content analysis technique.

The article lacked in defining the 1:1 model and collaborative learning model. Instead of

discussing the model, the paper discussed the ways the model was implemented and the changes

the HEI faced during the implementation of the model. In other words, the paper lacks in

explaining the concept of these selected models. In the upcoming section, the strengths and

weaknesses of the paper have been discussed.

2.3 Strengths and weaknesses of the Reviewed Paper

The key strength of the article is the reporting of findings concisely and clearly. One of the

key strengths of the paper is to discuss the practical experience of implementing the collaborative

learning model and its impact on the development of individuals. The study includes the

placement diaries for data collection that allowed the research to report the outcomes based on

the real-time experiences of adult nurses. Placement diaries allowed the researchers to collect the

data from the nurses that is based on their consciousness. However, these are some of the

strengths of this article, the list of weaknesses goes longer than the strengths.

The key weakness that has been identified in the reviewed article is the absence of a clear

purpose of the article. The article does not define clearly the research question and main problem

of study that the authors wanted to address. Sacred Heart University (2021) stated that a problem

statement is a definition of the concerned area of the research or an identification of the area that

needs improvement. The paper lacks in defining the area that needs improvement and for which

the research is being conducted.

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Moving further, the article does highlights the theories of concepts of adult development.

Only the use of collaborative learning and evaluation of its impact on students’ development

disclosed the use of some obvious theories that were just named at certain places. Further, the

paper does not reflect on the methodological details. The article relied on qualitative data

collection using the placement diaries and completely overlooked the quantitative data collection

for evaluating the impact of collaborative learning on adult nurses' development.

3. Conclusion

The paper aimed at doing a critique on the article written by Sarah Harvey and Claire D.

Uren in 2013. The article was about discussing the collaborative learning method as a productive

model of mentoring and developing adult nurses in the acute setting. It is found that the paper

contains some strengths, but a list of weaknesses. For example, the core strength of the paper is

its detailing of the ways the collaborative learning model was implemented at HEI and the

challenges that were faced by the institution. The publication used a unique data collection

method called placement diaries, which is rarely used. The article mentioned the impact of

collaborative learning on the different skills development of adult nurses.

However, the article did not reflect on the literature related to adult development and

collaborative learning. The article did not highlight the findings of other authors in this domain

nor discussed the theories. The article did not include a clear purpose statement or research

question to be answered. The authors for data collection only relied on placement diaries; they

highlighted that the data collection through focus groups is underway and the outcomes gained

from this data collection method would be published, but they did not report the outcomes in the

current study. The study did not provide any detail regarding the data analysis method and
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research participants. Based on the weaknesses, the study is recommended to use mixed data

collection and analysis methods to conduct detailed analysis and avoid biases. For future

research, the study must not be limited to certain institutions to enhance the generalizability of

the research. Rather than conducting focus group studies, future research must include interviews

with seniors because they can better tell the outcomes in return for the application of the

collaborative model (Carey and Asbury, 2016). Managers can better define how collaborative

learning contributed to the development of their adults and added value to their organisations.
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4. References

Bachkirova, T., Jackson, P., & Clutterbuck, D. (2021). EBOOK: Coaching and Mentoring

Supervision: Theory and Practice. UK: McGraw-Hill Education (UK).

Bung, P., 2015. Collaborative Mentoring Models in Higher Educational Іnstitutions: A Win-

Win-Win Strategy for Mentor, Mentee, and the Institution. Journal of Advances in

Business Manage-Bung//Journal of Advances in Business Manage-//Journal of Advances

in Business Manage-Journal of Advances in Business Management, 1(3), pp.197-203.

https://www.academia.edu/34392981/Collaborative_mentoring_models_in_higher_educa

tional_institutions_A_win_win_win_strategy_for_mentor_mentee_and_the_Instituion

Harvey, S., & Uren, C. D. (2019). Collaborative learning: application of the mentorship model

for adult nursing students in the acute placement setting. Nurse education today, 74, 38-

40 DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2018.11.022

Lobo, C., Arthur, A. and Lattimer, V., 2014. Collaborative Learning in Practice (CLiP) for pre-

registration nursing students. University of East England.

https://www.charleneloboconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/CLiP-Paper-final-version-

Sept-14.pdf

Sacred Heart University., 2021. Organizing Academic Research Papers: The Research

Problem/Question. https://library.sacredheart.edu/c.php?g=29803&p=185918
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