An Online Doctoral Education Course Using Problem-Based Learning

The number of doctoral nursing programs has greatly increased over the past several years. There has also been a shift toward delivering programs either partially or fully online. The literature lacks discussions about doctoral-level teaching methods in the online environment. This article describes the use of a semester-long problem-based learning activity in an online doctoral course focusing on nurse educator leadership. The Students-As-Faculty Experience created for this course features the use of a virtual nursing program in which students are cast as faculty members confronting issues via faculty meetings and sharing rotating roles as chairperson. Students were vested in the process by co-designing the course in terms of developing agenda items for the meetings and evaluation rubrics. Through playing the roles of faculty and chairperson, the students reported a distinct improvement in their leadership abilities and confidence at the end of the course.