Opinions of Adult Learners About Negotiating Syllabi Rules in a Baccalaureate Nursing Program

A baccalaureate nursing (BSN) program is using the philosophy of adult learning as a tenet of curriculum development. This philosophical approach is to support the uniqueness of the adult learner. Are nursing faculty composing course syllabi in a way that allows accommodations for adult learners’ complex lives? Which syllabi items, if any, would adult learners negotiate?This descriptive study was part of a larger study conducted by the same researchers that compared nursing faculty and student expectations of syllabi. One hundred ninety-nine BSN students reported they would ask for syllabi accommodations and identified the rationale for doing so. The most frequently selected accommodation to be negotiated was assignment deadlines (46%), followed by attendance requirements (35%) and testing deadlines (28%). Personal or family issues was identified by more than 80% of students as the reason they would request a change.