Seeking students in online RN-BSN degree programs for research participants

[victoriabrahe]

hello, my name is victoria brahe and i am a nurse completing a phd in education at capella university. the research for my dissertation involves students' use of informal communities in online rn-bsn degree programs and how online course design can promote the formation of informal communities.

informal communities include friendships that develop when sharing online courses with classmates who provide social, emotional, and/or academic support. communication might take place via e-mail, instant messaging, telephone, blogs, micro-blogs (e.g., twitter, pownce), wikis, virtual worlds (e.g., second life), social bookmarking (e.g., diigo, delicious, stumbleupon),multi-media (e.g., youtube, flickr, skype), or social networking sites (e.g., facebook, ning).

if you are:

1. enrolled in a fully online rn-bsn degree program,

2. participating in an informal community with other students in the same online program, and

3. willing to participate in a 20-30 minute telephone interview,

i would like to speak with you.

the telephone interview will take approximately 20-30 minutes. all the information shared by you will be held in strict confidence, and there will be no personal connection identified in the report. a follow-up interview to clarify points may or may not be necessary. participants will receive a $25 gift card from amazon.com for his or her time and sharing of experiences.

if you would like to participate in this research, please send me an e-mail at [email protected] and very briefly tell me about your informal community. feel free to e-mail me with any questions, and to forward this post to other students that are in an online rn-bsn degree program who might be interested in participation.

thank you for your consideration.

victoria brahe, rn, msn

this study has been approved by capella university, irb 212556-1, effective february 17, 2011 to february 17, 2012