Combination of concept maps and case-based learning in a flipped classroom: A mixed-methods study

AIM

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a hybrid learning method on the academic achievements, learning skills and experiences of undergraduate nursing students.

BACKGROUND

Case-based learning is a student-centered approach that is commonly integrated into the flipped classroom model in nursing education. However, effectively combining the flipped classroom model and case-based learning into a hybrid learning format is challenging. To address this gap, this study integrated concept maps with case-based learning and the flipped classroom and evaluated the impact of this hybrid learning method on the academic achievements, learning skills and experiences of undergraduate nursing students.

DESIGN

A mixed-methods approach, including a quasi-experimental study and semi-structured interviews, was employed.

METHODS

A total of 277 undergraduate nursing students participated, with 136 students in the control group undergoing case-based learning and 141 students in the experimental group taught using the hybrid learning approach, which combined concept maps, case-based learning and a flipped classroom. The study assessed self-directed learning, critical thinking, learning strategy and curriculum grades in both groups before and after the intervention. Additionally, students in the experimental group participated in semi-structured interviews.

RESULTS

The quantitative findings indicated that both case-based learning and the hybrid learning method (combined concept maps, case-based learning and a flipped classroom) had similar impacts on the curriculum grades, self-directed learning, cognitive maturity and learning strategy of nursing students. The qualitative results further demonstrated how the hybrid approach facilitated integrated learning, promoted self-evaluation, aided adaptation to the flipped classroom and enhanced teacher-student interaction.

CONCLUSIONS

Combining case-based learning, a flipped classroom and concept maps is an effective learning approach for undergraduate nursing students. It may improve students' self-directed learning, cognitive maturity and learning strategy. Additionally, concept maps are a beneficial supplement to case-based learning and a flipped classroom in terms of guiding integrated learning, promoting self-evaluation, enhancing adaptation to a flipped classroom and increasing interaction between teachers and students and between classmates.

The Effect of Concept Mapping on Critical Thinking of Jordanian Nursing Students

AIM

The aim of this study was to explore the effectiveness of concept maps in improving the critical thinking of nursing students.

METHOD

This quasi-experimental study was conducted using a pretest-posttest design among two groups of a total of 115 nursing students. Participants were either exposed to concept mapping sessions or taught with traditional lecturing; the assessment tool was a test of critical thinking completed before and after the intervention.

RESULTS

The mean scores for critical thinking were higher in the group that engaged in mapping sessions compared to the traditional lecture group.

CONCLUSION

This study supports the usefulness of concept maps as a teaching strategy to promote development of nursing students' critical thinking abilities. These findings could provide valuable evidence for establishing concept mapping as a promising teaching strategy for nursing students.

Concept Mapping: A Dynamic, Individualized and Qualitative Method for Eliciting Meaning

The purpose of this theoretical article is to explore the use of concept mapping as a qualitative research method that is represented as a form of multimodal communication. This framework strives to move mapping beyond quantitative analysis by inserting art and humanness into the process. This proposed framework provides a means to highlight the ways in which people learn, understand, and interpret the world around them. Three categories for understanding have been identified by the authors to help individuals create, interpret, and understand qualitative concept maps. These categories include the following: Voice: Tri-directional Voice and Mutual Absorption; Detail in the Parts & Recognition of the Whole: Uniqueness, Aesthetic Distance and Emplacement; and Sensory Experience: Intellectual + Emotional Investment and Humanness. Each of these categories is interconnected, and informs each other in a dialectical way, therefore creating a piece of visual data with which the participant, researcher and audience can interact.

Concept mapping to improve team work, team learning and care of the person with dementia and behavioural and psychological symptoms

The incidence of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia in residential aged care facilities is high. Effective team work and knowledgeable staff are cited as important facilitators of appropriate care responses to clients with these symptoms, but to achieve this within a resource-poor workplace can be challenging. In the study reported in this paper, concept mapping was trialled to enhance multifocal person-centred assessment and care planning as well as team learning. The outcomes of team concept mapping were evaluated using a quasi-experimental design with pre- and post-testing in 11 selected Australian residential aged care facilities , including two control residential aged care facilities , over a nine-month period. It was demonstrated that use of concept mapping improved team function, measured as effectiveness of care planning, as well as enhancing learning, with increased knowledge of dementia care even amongst staff who were not directly involved with the process. It is suggested that these results may be generalizable to other countries and care settings.