As a result of the COVID-19 situation in Singapore, in mid-February the Singapore Nursing Board Teaching, stipulated that all nursing educational provision was to be delivered via online methods. Subsequently, the teaching of all semester one units of study (4 in total) which usually occurs face-to-face in Singapore, was conducted entirely on-line. This included the delivery of all lectures, tutorials and lecture-student consultation sessions. Assessments, including individual student presentations and end of semester examinations were/ will also be conducted online.
All of the students in Singapore enrolled in the Bachelor of Nursing (Post-registration) degree are registered nurses who are upgrading their diploma qualification to a degree. Subsequently, the majority of them are balancing work with study. As the pandemic situation in Singapore intensified, work demands for many nurses also increased. However, all members of the teaching team who were coordinating units of study, including myself, observed increased engagement with things such as Discussion Board activities and attendance at tutorials and discussion sessions and assignment submission rates. It was also evident that, overall, students appeared to have a better understanding of unit content and assessment requirements. This may have been due to the ability to watch and re-watch recorded lectures. Anecdotally, students in my unit of study have indicated that they appreciate the efforts that lecturers have put into developing learning materials and engaging with students, however, despite this, they prefer face-face learning.