Mixed mode education learning and the use of textual resources

Economic and market forces, as well asbeliefs about sound educational practice, are prompting faculty to adopt mixed mode education, drawing upon both established and in-house material production. There is much to be gained, both from the student, purchaser and provider (institution and tutor) point of view, but implementation of such programmes requires careful planning. This paper stems from the 1994 Nurse Education Tomorrow Conference (Durham) and discusses pragmatic considerations when textual resources are used to fuel education innovation. It argues that the use of ‘study guides’ may free precious tutor resources for higher taxonomy roles, and afford opportunities to review the ways in which the management of effective learning can assist in the development of quality assurance criteria.