Teaching qualitative research through participatory coursework and mentorship

Many doctoral programs in nursing now offer at least one course in qualitative research. Yet it remains a challenge to adequately prepare new qualitative researchers due to lack of faculty expertise and mentorship, student unfamiliarity with qualitative research when entering the doctoral program, and uncertainty as to appropriate teaching methods. The authors describe how they addressed these issues historically and in their current two-course qualitative research sequence. Accompanying reports of four studies conducted by students who completed the two-course sequence during academic year 1996 to 1997 provide evidence of the viability of the authors' approach and serve as the basis for recommendations to others who use a similar strategy for teaching qualitative research.