Research teaching strategies

Psychometric Evaluation of the Nursing Students' Attitudes Toward Nursing Education Research Questionnaire

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

While nursing students' attitudes about research are generally positive, little is known about their attitudes toward education research. The purpose of this study was to test the psychometric properties of the newly developed Nursing Students' Attitudes toward Nursing Education Research Questionnaire (NSANERQ).

METHODS

The 25-item NSANERQ was adapted from an existing tool measuring nursing students' attitudes toward nursing research. Content and construct validity, and internal consistency and test-retest reliability were evaluated. Content validity was assessed using a panel of five experts. Internal consistency reliability and construct validity were assessed in a sample of 156 senior, junior, and sophomore baccalaureate nursing students with a mean age of 20.55 years. A separate sample of 49 freshmen baccalaureate nursing students with a mean age of 18.35 years was used to assess test-retest reliability. Both samples were predominantly female, White, and non-Hispanic/non-Latino.

RESULTS

The NSANERQ demonstrated excellent content validity (S-CVI = 0.92), good internal consistency reliability (α = .88), and acceptable test-retest reliability (r = 0.71) over 2 weeks. Exploratory factor analysis resulted in a six-factor solution, which was confirmed through confirmatory factor analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

The NSANERQ is a valid and reliable instrument that can be used to measure students' attitudes toward nursing education research.

Nursing students' attitudes toward research: An integrative review

OBJECTIVE

This paper describes the state of the science related to undergraduate nursing students' attitudes toward research.

DESIGN

The updated integrative review method was used to systematically examine the published nursing literature about students' attitudes toward nursing research.

DATA SOURCES

Data sources for this review included: the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PubMed, and Education Resources Information Center databases.

REVIEW METHODS

Database searches identified 207 articles. Abstracts were screened for relevance, and, if appropriate, the full article was obtained and reviewed. Ancestral searches of reference lists yielded an additional 29 articles, thus a total of 236 articles were screened for this review.

RESULTS

This comprehensive screening process yielded a total of 11 quantitative, 2 qualitative, and 2 mixed method studies about undergraduate nursing students' attitudes toward research.

CONCLUSIONS

Nursing students have generally positive attitudes toward research and see the value of research to professional nursing practice. Engaging in a research course or other active research-related activity improves attitudes toward nursing research. More rigorous study is warranted to determine best teaching/learning strategies to enhance students' perceptions of research. Future research is also needed to gain a better understanding of the demographic, academic, and program factors that affect nursing students' attitudes toward nursing research.

Redressing the power and effect of significance. A new approach to an old problem: teaching statistics to nursing students

Many barriers to learning are present when teaching research methods. Developing, within students of nursing, the skills of reading and interpreting research reports is vital if the profession is to contribute to the general aim of achieving a sound basis for all health care interventions. This paper overviews the current move toward evidence based practice, the challenges that are present when teaching research to nursing students and offers an approach to teaching quantitative research that will help students of nursing to understand the key concepts that form the basis of inferential statistics. In this work we argue that the traditional emphasis on probability and statistical significance needs to be redressed and that effect size and power should form the basis of teaching students the concepts involved in inferential statistics. We argue that introducing students to the key concepts in statistical decision making in a particular order, effect size then power and lastly statistical significance, will lead to a better understanding of Type I and Type II errors. After all, the purpose of hypothesis testing is to detect a treatment or intervention effect. Power is dependent upon the size of the treatment effect, thus it must be introduced after effect size. Students, we argue, must be able to understand the concept of effect size. We consider this to be a foundational concept that will help to develop a firmer grasp of the decision making processes involved in hypothesis testing. Such an approach will form a more logical approach to teaching this subject and will allow for the use of real world examples to form the basis of learning.

A strategy for teaching research to adult branch diploma students

Given the requirement for diploma students to 'use relevant literature and research to inform the practice of nursing' (Statutory Instrument No. 1456 1989 p 5), it is imperative that nurse educators develop effective strategies to promote student interest in research, and develop the knowledge and skills required to understand and use research in practice. This article presents the teaching strategy developed for adult branch students at one college of nursing. The strategy is based on the use of journal clubs and presentations of individuals' research. Both the organizational strategy, and the process adopted are described in some detail. A discussion on the underlying rationale and an evaluation to date are incorporated.

Creative strategies for teaching statistical concepts in nursing education

Helping students efficiently learn critical concepts and understand the personal and professional relevance of statistics are important activities when teaching nursing research or related courses. The authors describe some creative teaching approaches used to elucidate abstract concepts and promote optimal learning of statistical analytic procedures. Appropriate for both undergraduate and graduate levels, these strategies are designed to influence the attitude that many students have about statistics, support active learning, and ignite the metacognitive abilities nursing students bring to the learning experience.

Integrating Nursing Research Findings into the Curriculum: A Descriptive Study

This descriptive study examined methods used to integrate nursing research findings into associate, baccalaureate, and master's nursing program curricula. Nursing faculty members (N = 420) from 105 programs in the NLN's North Atlantic region were asked, in a mailed survey, to indicate the course objectives and learning activities concerning nursing research findings used in their courses. Completed surveys were returned from 55% (n = 231). Chi-square analyses showed significant differences in all course objectives and most learning activities among faculty. Faculty in baccalaureate and/or master's programs used the objectives and most learning activities concerning nursing research findings more than faculty from the associate degree programs. Overall, however, faculty have made concerted efforts to each nursing research findings using a variety of course objectives and learning activities. Further research is recommended to determine the most effective strategies. Educators are encouraged to provide opportunities for students to use accepted research findings in practice.

Changes in nursing students' knowledge about and attitudes toward research following an undergraduate research course

This study examined changes in baccalaureate nursing students' attitudes toward and knowledge about research, following completion of a research course. The teaching methods used in the course included having students critique research articles, complete objective examinations, and work in small groups to develop research proposals. The sample of 54 students completed a pretest and two post-tests measuring research knowledge, and a pretest and one post-test measuring research attitudes. The pretest was administered at the beginning of the research course, and the first post-test was administered at the end of the course. The second post-test was administered during the students' last semester in the nursing programme. Students reported more positive attitudes toward research at the end of the programme than at the beginning of the course. Knowledge scores were significantly higher at the end of the course than at the beginning of the course or at the end of the programme. There was no differences in knowledge scores on the pretest and on the second post-test. The findings raise questions about the effectiveness of traditional research curricula in preparing baccalaureate nursing students to be competent research consumers.