An Evidence-Based Project for Evaluating Strategies to Improve Knowledge Acquisition and Critical-Thinking Performance in Nursing Students

This longitudinal, quasi-experimental study with 142 junior nursing students focused on measurement of learning outcomes in two areas: acquisition of knowledge and development of critical thinking skills. The variation in clinical teaching strategy (structured versus unstructured health pattern assessment) was the independent variable. Results indicated significant gains in both knowledge and critical thinking performance from the beginning to the end of the semester. The significant gains in critical thinking performance provides support to the assertion that domain-specific measures of critical thinking are needed in nursing education. Additionally, our results suggested that it was the interaction between learning strategy and the characteristics of the learner that was more significant in determining knowledge improvement than the particular strategy. As a result of this study, it is recommended that faculty develop and use an evidence-based model to support their decision making regarding teaching methodologies. This seems especially relevant for large, introductory clinical courses that use team teaching to achieve educational goals related to improvement in critical thinking or knowledge.