Exploring the challenges and efforts implemented to improve the academic performance and success of nursing students at a university in the Western Cape

The interplay between self-regulation, learning flow, academic stress and learning engagement as predictors for academic performance in a blended learning environment: A cross-sectional survey

Aim

To examine the correlations between self-regulation, learning flow, academic stress and learning engagement as predicting variables for academic achievement in a blended learning environment in Namibia.

Design

Cross-sectional survey.

Methods

Data were collected from 166 randomly selected undergraduate nursing students through an online survey between January and February 2023, and were analysed using IBM SPSS AMOS version 28.0. The data were explored through factor, parallel and confirmatory factor analyses. The relationship between the study factors and the total score of the scale was analysed using the Pearson correlation coefficient.

Results

The results indicate that the two factors identified in the factor analysis are consistent with the theoretical proposition in this research. Factor 1 comprises items C1 to C24, which pertain to self-regulation (SR), while factor 2 consists of items D1 to D9, which relate to learning flow (LR). The findings demonstrate that self-regulation significantly predicts both flow and stress, as well as learning engagement. Additionally, there is a significant relationship between stress and self-regulated learning, as well as between stress and learning flow (r = 0.23-0.26; p= < .05). However, none of the study constructs were found to predict academic achievement.

Conclusion

Although self-regulation significantly predicted flow, stress and learning engagement, a non-significant association exists between all the study constructs and academic achievement. The results of this study have significant implications for improving the development of a positive learning environment that fosters active student engagement. Future studies should investigate correlation by conducting large-scale studies.

Impact

This study makes a valuable contribution to the current body of literature concerning academic achievement within the context of undergraduate nursing education. The insignificant relationship between the study variables and academic achievement indicate that these elements are not of considerable significance in enhancing educational achievements in blended learning surroundings in Namibia.

Patient or public contribution

One hundred and sixty-six undergraduate nursing students participated in the survey. The data collected were analysed and interpreted by a skilled statistician.

Clinical Instructors' Caring Behaviors as Perceived by Nursing Students

Caring is considered a vital aspect of nursing. This study explored Jordanian nursing students' perceptions of their clinical instructors' caring behaviors. A cross-sectional approach was taken. Data were collected from 212 nursing students using the Nursing Students' Perceptions of Instructor Caring instrument developed by Wade and Kasper. Nursing students were found to have generally positive responses toward their clinical instructors, perceiving them as caring rather than uncaring. Clinical instructors' caring behaviors had a positive impact on nursing students' caring behaviors.

Pre-registration nursing students' anxiety and academic concerns after the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Italy: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

The pandemic and its related social restrictions have led to many uncertainties in nurse education, including the fear of infection in clinical learning settings and the challenge of remote learning. The modification of clinical and academic environments generated anxiety and academic concerns among nursing students.

OBJECTIVES

To explore the main determinants of anxiety related to the clinical and classroom environments in nurse education after the second wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

DESIGN

Multicentre cross-sectional study.

SETTINGS

Ten universities offering nursing bachelor programs in central and southern Italy.

PARTICIPANTS

A convenience sample of 842 nursing students.

METHODS

From April to July 2021, the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and the Altered Student Study Environment Tool were administered to assess, respectively, students' anxiety and their concerns about the study environment. A regression model was tested.

RESULTS

Most of the nursing students were female (76.6 %), living with family (70.9 %), and full-time students (85.7 %); 44.6 % were third-year of Bachelor in Nursing students. The majority of the participants (88.5 %) showed a level of anxiety. The statistically significant predictors of anxiety levels were concerns about grade attainment (β=0.42, p < 0.001) in the total sample, and, among the first-year students, the completion of clinical placement (β=0.14, p = 0.047).

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest a need for the redesign of teaching activities and clinical learning experiences to ensure academic outcomes and to preserve students' psychological well-being. Models of learning environments' dynamic adaptation and ongoing psychological support should be implemented to develop tailored interventions.

Impact of online social capital on academic performance: exploring the mediating role of online knowledge sharing

Given the importance of digital communication during the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for advancing academic goals through online social capital is more tangibly felt. This study examined the hypothesis that online social capital can improve the students' academic performance, as one of the main academic goals, through the mediation of knowledge sharing in the online environment. Participants in the study were 376 graduate engineering students from five universities in Iran. The findings indicated that the bridging of online social capital had a positive and significant effect on the cognitive and social integrative benefits of online knowledge sharing. Besides, the social integrative benefits and personal integrative benefits of online knowledge sharing influenced academic performance. Finally, the social integrative benefits and personal integrative benefits had a mediating role in the relationship between the bridging of online social capital and academic performance. Implications of the findings are discussed for the students' academic performance and suggestions are provided for future research.

Investigating Relationship of Perceived Learning Engagement, Motivation, and Academic Performance Among Nursing Students: A Multisite Study

BACKGROUND

Learning engagement, motivation and academic achievement are vital growing areas in academic research. Evidence suggests that students' engagement and motivation are positively linked to improved quality of learning. However, limited number of research studies have been conducted within this scope. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the relationship of learning engagement, motivation and academic performance among university nursing students.

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS

A descriptive design, with a comparative correlational approach for data analysis, was used to describe and compare study outcomes. Data was collected from 425 students at King Saud bin Abdul-Aziz University for Health Sciences campuses in Riyadh, Jeddah and Alhasa. Study instruments included background data sheet, students' engagement in schools (SESQ-ENG), engagement facilitators (SEI), academic motivation (AMS), and academic achievement as measured by cumulative and last semester grade point average (cGPA, sGPA).

RESULTS

Overall, level of engagement was moderate (mean = 3.70±0.63) with significant differences among campuses (F = 18.88, p≤001). Students' perceptions of engagement facilitators and academic motivation were high (mean= 2.98 ±0.49, 4.89 ±1.03, respectively), and both varied by campus (F=6.35, p=0.002, F=9.85, p≤.001, respectively). Engagement, motivation, and academic achievement showed medium to large correlations (i.e., between 0.20 and 0.63). Multiple regression equation including age, academic progress, academic engagement, motivation and engagement facilitators significantly explained 24% of variance in cGPA (F (5, 226) =14.209, p < 0.001) and 22% of the variance in sGPA (F (5, 214) = 12.202, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

This study showed significant associations of students' engagement, facilitating conditions (e.g., engagement-fostering aspects), and students' motivation with significant effect on academic achievement. It is hoped that findings of this study could be used as quality indicators to direct school efforts towards achieving excellence in nursing education.

English Language Proficiency and Its Relationship with Academic Performance and the Nurse Licensure Examination

Background: Studies have shown that various factors influence students’ success in nursing school and the Nurse Licensure Examination (NLE). Such factors should be studied as foundations of the nursing programs. Problems with proficiency in the language used by the instructor to teach curricular courses may be considered a barrier to effective learning and academic success.Purpose: This study ascertained the influence of English language proficiency on the academic performance of students in professional nursing courses and the NLE.Methods: This study employed a retrospective descriptive correlational study design. Secondary analysis of existing research data sets of 141 nursing students in one nursing school in the Philippines was performed. Pearson’s r was used to determine the correlation between variables.Results: Findings showed that there were significant correlations between academic performance and the Verbal Ability subscale of the Nursing Aptitude Test (p=0.003) and the three English courses included in the nursing curriculum (p=0.000). There were also significant correlations between the NLE ratings and Verbal Ability (p=0.000) and the three English courses (p=0.000).Conclusion: English language proficiency is an important factor in determining the academic and licensure success of nursing students. Nursing schools must ensure that approaches in improving students' English language proficiency must be well integrated into the undergraduate nursing program.