Return to:
Capella University
Dr. Barb Schreiner, PhD, RN, CPLP, CDE, BC-ADM
Core Faculty, School of Public Service Leadership, Nursing Program
Capella University
With over 35 years of experience teaching in both clinical and academic environments, Dr. Barb Schreiner brings a wealth of practical knowledge to the classroom. Familiar with her expansive body of work in clinical research and teaching, the dean of the School of Public Service Leadership approached Schreiner about joining Capella University’s core faculty. She accepted the offer and began at Capella in May of 2010. She now teaches graduate courses in nursing. Her specialties include performance improvement, clinical care of children and adolescents, and diabetes treatment.
What type of courses are available to nursing students?
At Capella University, there are three specialization tracks in the master’s program in nursing: Nursing Education, Nursing Leadership, Diabetes, and Gerontology. In the Capella DNP (Doctor of Nursing Practice) program, the focus is on advanced leadership in the healthcare environment.
Can you explain the online learning platform that Capella uses? How does it facilitate student learning and interaction?
Capella uses an asynchronous learning environment supported by the Blackboard Vista platform. This platform provides a variety of functions to support teaching and learning, including asynchronous discussion boards, blogs and journals, roster and private assignment tools, plagiarism detection, grade books, quiz tools, groups, email, announcements, and the ability to deliver content through HTML pages. Nursing faculty may enhance the virtual courseroom through the use of audio and visual presentations and conferencing tools. Each online courseroom contains the functionality necessary to facilitate all of the interaction that should occur between instructors and learners in a course, including syllabi distribution, announcements, assignment requirements, dialogue about course content and assignments, and feedback on learner performance. In addition, links throughout the courseroom take learners to resources such as a writing center with free writing tutor support, a virtual library, technical services, and resources for time management or disability support.
Additionally, several courses utilize online simulated nursing practice tools, titled the Riverbend City Scenario Simulation Project. This tool is a scenario-based, multimedia simulation that follows the events of a natural disaster in a fictional city. Within the simulation, learners engage with simulation scenarios through “missions,” a series of scenes, tied to discussions and assignments.
What kind of assignments do students have? How long do students have to turn in assignments?
Most courses in the nursing programs have four assignments with due dates spread across the 10-week quarter. Assignments range from papers to annotated bibliographies to slide presentations to video or audio submissions of patient-nurse interactions. In some courses, components of a final paper are submitted throughout the course, with the final composite paper due at the end of the quarter. Learners are apprised of the course requirements through their syllabus and reminders strategically located throughout the course. A typical assignment may take one to three weeks to complete.
How do you communicate with students? Do you network and keep up with students after the semester is done?
The most common interaction with students is through the virtual courseroom, in the discussion threads, in personal emails, and in course updates. Most instructors provide a virtual welcome using Adobe Connect. In some courses, conference calls are conducted early in the course or at mid-course. Learners can maintain communication with faculty using Capella’s internal social networking options.
How would you describe Capella’s student body?
Capella learners tend to be working adults who are hoping to build their knowledge and expertise in a quality educational environment conducive to and respectful of their busy lives. Capella learners are wives and husbands, fathers and mothers, working part-time or full-time with a drive for life-long learning. They are willing to enter into a learning relationship with a faculty mentor and guide, and are skilled in communicating in a virtual world. They accept the responsibility for their own learning. They share what they know as they build a virtual community of fellow learners.
What defines a successful online student in your classes? What advice do you have for students thinking of pursuing online education?
Success in the online world requires at least two things: commitment and resilience. There must be a commitment to learning and to owning the responsibility for learning. This responsibility is often seen when the learner reaches out to an instructor for help or seeks tips from fellow students.
There must also be flexibility and resilience. A virtual learner must know the available resources and how to efficiently access them. He or she must fearlessly navigate the links and course resources.
For students considering online education, I would advise an honest self-assessment: How solid are your time management skills? Can you delay gratification? Can you reset priorities in the interest of your study time? Do you have enough social support to cheer you on? Are you willing to give up weekends or evenings for school work? Can you work in an environment where most of your contact with others is the written word? Can you persist for months and years as you move ever closer to your degree or certificate?
Many students decide on a school based on location and campus. When it comes to online education, what makes Capella one of the best online colleges?
Capella University provides quality instructors, courses, and resources. Many instructors are adjunct at Capella while still working in their occupations. For example, many nursing faculty are also nurse practitioners or clinical nurse specialists. This means they are connected to the real world experience of nursing, experience that they share with their learners in the courserooms.
Capella courses are created by the faculty with amazing support from a curriculum design team, an instructional design team and a media team. These resources make Capella courses interesting, pertinent, and academically sound. Capella is regionally accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), Many programs within Capella are accredited by specialty organizations as well.
Finally, Capella has superb resources. Because Capella lives in a virtual world, the online tools are robust. Learners have access to a virtual library 24 hours per day. There are free tutoring services to help learners build writing skills. Each learner has an academic advisor who is knowledgeable about the degree plan for the individual student. There is a financial aid office for all learners and specific support for military and disabled learners.
Capella University continues to build its equity in the virtual learning world through its commitment to upgrading software and systems, and an overall high quality learning experience.
