Abstract
Background/Significance: Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) is committed to advancing equity, academic excellence, and student success through faculty development. In alignment with this mission, CDU partnered with the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE), whose certification program provides evidence-based teaching strategies designed to enhance instructional effectiveness, foster student achievement, and strengthen institutional outcomes. This faculty development initiative is significant for nursing education, where effective pedagogy directly impacts program retention, graduation rates, and preparation of a diverse nursing workforce.
Purpose: This study evaluates the impact of ACUE certification on teaching practices and pre-licensure nursing student outcomes within MMDCON. The findings will provide evidence of institutional return on investment, inform ongoing faculty development initiatives, and contribute to the national dialogue on effective strategies for improving nursing education and advancing health equity.
Methods: This retrospective, quasi-experimental, comparative cohort study analyzes CDU academic records from academic years 2021–2025. Student outcomes in courses taught by ACUE-certified faculty will be compared before and after faculty ACUE-certification. Since 2021, MMDCON has certified 24 faculty (prelicensure and post-licensure), 19 who remain active and constitute the analytic cohort. Between 2021–2024, 1,745 prelicensure students were enrolled in the MMDCON. Of these, 15 did not progress in core BSN courses: 3 (2022), 6 (2023), 6 (2024). Regression models will adjust for student demographics, course characteristics, and faculty attributes. Analyses include paired t-tests of pre/post course evaluation scores and descriptive summaries of faculty-reported instructional changes over time.
Preliminary Findings (Results): Preliminary analysis of data from 2021–2024 on prelicensure demonstrates an emerging positive trend in student outcomes following ACUE certification. Among courses taught by certified faculty, course completion rates increased by 1 percentage point, DFW (drop/fail/withdrawal) rates decreased by 7 percentage points, and average course grades improved by 0.08 points on a 4.0 scale. Although preliminary and limited to a subset of four certified prelicensure faculty, these findings mirror national ACUE outcomes, suggesting enhanced instructional effectiveness, and measurable improvements in student success.
Limitations: This retrospective, nonrandomized design introduces residual confounding, while a small prelicensure ACUE-certified sample (n=4) limits statistical power and precision. Additionally, missing pre-certification teaching practice data restricts valid pre/post comparisons, reducing internal validity. To address these limitations, analyses will incorporate regression models with robust standard errors. These approaches will strengthen causal inference, account for faculty-level clustering, and partially mitigate threats to validity despite the study’s inherent design constraints.
Implications for Nursing Education: Preliminary evidence indicates that ACUE certification contributes to improved course completion, reduced DFW rates, and enhanced academic performance. For MMDCON, these findings reinforce the value of investing in faculty development as a mechanism for advancing CDU’s mission of health equity and student success. Broader implications include providing a replicable model for nursing programs nationwide, where systematic investment in evidence-based pedagogy can improve outcomes for students and the communities they will serve.
Sigma Membership
Alpha Alpha Psi
Type
Poster
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Quasi-Experimental Study, Other
Research Approach
Mixed/Multi Method Research
Keywords:
ACUE, Faculty Development, Nursing Education, Student Success, Equity
Conference Name
Transform 2025
Conference Year
2025
Conference Location
Anaheim, California, USA
Conference Host
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN)
Recommended Citation
Chimwala-Selico, Charity M.; Quezada, Davian; and Fitzgerald, Leah, "Retrospective Pre-Post Evaluation of Faculty Teaching Practices and Student Outcomes Before and After ACUE Certification at Mervyn M. Dymally College of Nursing (MMDCON), Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU)" (2025). General Submissions: Academic Settings and Education-based Materials. 50.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/general_submissions_asem/50
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Self-submission
Date of Issue
2025-12-19
Funder(s)
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Full Text of Presentation
wf_yes
Description
Acknowledgment: This research is supported by Grant #2020244 from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Project Stride.