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Active learning strategies in advanced nursing education
Author
Zubaidah Mohamed
Supervisor
Ball, Jessica
Abstract
In this study, 28 Nanyang Polytechnic students (2 males and 26 females) taking the Advanced Diploma in Critical Care Nursing Course were surveyed during the second semester, January to March, 1995. They have been batched into two groups from the start of the July-December 1994 semester. To avoid upsetting the official arrangement of these students, one was used to serve as a control group while the other as the experimental group. Biggs' (1987) Study Process Questionnaire (SW) was used to ascertain the learning styles of students in both groups. Before the intervention, the majority of the students in the experiment group were surface learners, whereas those in the control group were deep learners.
Active learning strategies which were used with the experiment group over a period of 6 weeks, involved 18 hours of class time. These strategies consisted of games, case-studies and peer tutoring. All of these were largely based on cooperative learning. However, students from the control group were taught using conventional method, that is, just purely lecturing in the normal way. Assessments were conducted before and after the course to determine the effectiveness of active learning on the experiment group compared with the control group. The assessment results showed that the experimental group made significant improvements in academic performance and also achieved higher grades on standardised final examinations than the control group. Thus, these findings disclosed in particular, students in the experiment group showed an increase in attentiveness, critical thinking and understanding of the lessons. Virtually all of the students in the experiment group responded favourably to the idea of participating actively in the learning process.
Active learning strategies which were used with the experiment group over a period of 6 weeks, involved 18 hours of class time. These strategies consisted of games, case-studies and peer tutoring. All of these were largely based on cooperative learning. However, students from the control group were taught using conventional method, that is, just purely lecturing in the normal way. Assessments were conducted before and after the course to determine the effectiveness of active learning on the experiment group compared with the control group. The assessment results showed that the experimental group made significant improvements in academic performance and also achieved higher grades on standardised final examinations than the control group. Thus, these findings disclosed in particular, students in the experiment group showed an increase in attentiveness, critical thinking and understanding of the lessons. Virtually all of the students in the experiment group responded favourably to the idea of participating actively in the learning process.
Date Issued
1995
Call Number
LB1060 Zub
Date Submitted
1995