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AIMS: This article is a report of a quasi-experimental study of the effects of blended modules on nursing students' learning of ethics course content. BACKGROUND: There is yet to be an empirically supported mix of strategies on which a working blended learning model can be built for nursing education. METHODS: This was a two-group pretest and post-test quasi-experimental study in 2008 involving a total of 233 students. Two of the five clusters were designated the experimental group to experience a blended learning model, and the rest were designated the control group to be given classroom lectures only. The Case Analysis Attitude Scale, Case Analysis Self-Evaluation Scale, Blended Learning Satisfaction Scale, and Metacognition Scale were used in pretests and post-tests for the students to rate their own performance. RESULTS: In this study, the experimental group did not register significantly higher mean scores on the Case Analysis Attitude Scale at post-test and higher mean ranks on the Case Analysis Self-Evaluation Scale, the Blended Learning Satisfaction Scale, and the Metacognition Scale at post-test than the control group. Moreover, the experimental group registered significant progress in the mean ranks on the Case Analysis Self-Evaluation Scale and the Metacognition Scale from pretest to post-test. CONCLUSIONS: No between-subjects effects of four scales at post-test were found. Newly developed course modules, be it blended learning or a combination of traditional and innovative components, should be tested repeatedly for effectiveness and popularity for the purpose of facilitating the ultimate creation of a most effective course module for nursing education.
Hsu et al. (Thu,) studied this question.