The perceived benefits of a virtual community: effects of learning style, race, ethnicity, and frequency of use on nursing students

Implications of understanding the undergraduate nursing students' learning styles: A discussion paper

The article aims to present and critique the literature exploring nursing students' learning styles and to discuss the implications of understanding nursing students' learning styles for nurse educators, nursing students, and nursing academic programs. Learning style refers to the way an individual prefers to learn. Learning styles are shaped by several factors and change with different contexts. The learning styles vary among students in nursing programs and other health professions, with no one dominant style. Despite inconsistent evidence, educators believe that matching their teaching methods with students' learning styles can promote academic performance. The authors share a teaching experience that incorporates offering several teaching methods for the same content to meet the different learning styles of nursing students. The teaching experience resulted in students' satisfaction and improvement in their performance. The paper proposes assisting nursing students to develop their learning styles to enable them to master the skillset required by nursing as a profession. These nursing students are future nurses who would have developed the necessary learning style and skills to provide safe and competent nursing care.

Formulation of teaching strategies for graduation internship based on the experiential learning styles of nursing undergraduates: a non-randomized controlled trial

PURPOSE

To formulate scientific and effective teaching strategies for the graduation internship of nursing undergraduates, in order to improve their holistic clinical competence.

METHOD

A before-after self-controlled study with cluster sampling was performed on the 78 senior nursing undergraduates that underwent a graduation internship at the department. Students were required to fill in the Kolb's Learning Style Questionnaire and Holistic Clinical Assessment Tool on the date of admission to assess their learning style characteristics and holistic clinical competence, according to which targeted teaching strategies for their graduation internship were formulated. When leaving the department, the students were required to fill in the Holistic Clinical Assessment Tool again to assess the changes in their learning skills after rotation.

RESULTS

In terms of learning methods, nursing students scored 23.87 ± 6.11, 29.57 ± 5.03, 37.85 ± 6.87, and 28.73 ± 6.70 in Concrete Experience, Reflective Observation, Abstract Conceptualisation, and Active Experimentation, respectively. When the learning styles were ranked by composition ratio, 46 students (58.9%) were assimilators, 18 (23.1%) were convergers, 9 (11.5%) were divergers, and 5 (6.4%) were accommodators. The holistic clinical competence of students after rotation was significantly improved compared to before rotation (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Clinical teaching strategies for graduation internship that are formulated according to the experiential learning style of nursing undergraduates can effectively improve their learning skills and holistic clinical competence.

Instruments to evaluate undergraduate healthcare student learning styles globally: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

Recognizing learning styles is important to maximizing learning outcomes and many instruments are available to investigate learning styles.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate instruments with evidence of validity and reliability most commonly used to evaluate undergraduate healthcare student learning styles globally.

METHOD

This scoping review of literature was guided by The Joanna Briggs Institute's recommendations for conducting scoping reviews and the PRISMA-ScR (extension for scoping reviews). The protocol is available for access.

DATA SOURCES

Databases searched included Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. Inclusion criteria were: fully accessible; written in English, Portuguese, or Spanish; and used reliable and/or validated instruments to describe healthcare student learning styles. Articles were excluded if the sample included healthcare professionals, there was no report of the instrument validity and reliability, or was not fully accessible. Data were extracted from each article and entered into Microsoft Office Excel documents for analysis.

RESULTS

Forty-seven articles were selected for full review, including cross-sectional, interventional, and longitudinal studies. Eleven instruments were identified with evidence of reliability and validity for assessing undergraduate healthcare student learning styles globally. The most frequently used instruments were Visual, Aural, Read-Write, and Kinesthetic; Kolb's Learning Styles Inventory; and the Honey-Alonso Questionnaire. Most instruments were developed based on a theoretical framework and/or model.

CONCLUSION

This scoping review adds to the literature an overview of available instruments which measure healthcare student learning styles with evidence of both reliability and validity. The results indicate the need for further studies to improve learning style instruments for use in intervention studies aimed at improving the teaching-learning process for healthcare students.

Evidentiary and theoretical foundations for virtual simulation in nursing education

Virtual simulation has been used extensively in nursing education since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic due to the unavailability of clinical sites. Extant research supports substitution of up to 50% of nursing clinical hours with simulation. However, in many nursing programs virtual simulation is currently substituting more than half of traditional clinical hours, and the knowledge gaps and limitations surrounding virtual simulation exist. The purpose of this paper is to describe the evidentiary and theoretical foundations for virtual simulation. Through examination of adult learning theories, learning styles and Bloom's Revised Taxonomy, recommendations for maximizing the use of virtual simulation in the current clinical learning environment are outlined. Debriefing is a vital component of virtual simulation. Synchronous debriefing with nursing students, faculty, preceptors, and peers provides the opportunity for scaffolding to support students' learning needs and foster reflection and evaluation to mitigate shortcomings of virtual simulation in the current clinical learning environment.

Virtual clinical simulation in nursing education: a concept analysis

OBJECTIVES

To analyze the concept of virtual clinical simulation in nursing education.

METHODS

The Walker and Avant concept analysis model guided the study process and the data collection followed the integrative literature review method. Databases searched were: CINAHL, PubMed, Education Resources Information Center, and Scopus. Search terms and Boolean operators were: e-simulation OR virtual clinical simulation OR computer-simulation OR computer simulation OR virtual gaming OR virtual reality AND nursing education OR nursing. The sample comprised 45 studies.

RESULTS

Virtual clinical simulation in nursing education was defined as the innovative teaching and learning technological strategy that provides immersive self-regulated training of nursing practice, reproducing real-life experiences and feedback in a virtual environment that is safe, interactive, dynamic and enjoyable.

CONCLUSIONS

Clarification of this concept contributes to the development of a standardized terminology to include in the nursing nomenclature system and its dissemination for the construction of nursing science.

A multi-centre study of learning styles of new nursing students

AIMS

To describe beginning nursing student learning styles and to determine whether there are relationships between learning style and sociodemographic or educational background. We also aim to compare these data with the normative values of the 3.1 version of the Kolb learning style inventory and verify its reliability.

BACKGROUND/LITERATURE

Learning style is related to the way in which an individual interacts with learning conditions, involving cognitive, affective, physical and environmental aspects. In nursing education, few studies have focused on knowing the learning styles of beginning nursing students, despite the need for students to develop critical thinking skills required of nurses.

DESIGN

Descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational, multi-site study.

METHOD

The study took place at five universities in Brazil and one university in the United States. Data were collected from a sample of beginning nursing students (n = 176) in 2019, using the Portuguese and English 3.1 versions of Kolb's learning style inventory.

RESULTS

Most students' learning styles were classified as divergers (34.10%), while 28.41% were assimilators, 23.86% were accommodators and 13.63% were convergers. Kolb describes learning as a four-stage cyclical process grounded in experience. The mean score of one learning stage, the concrete experience, showed those who attended public high schools compared with private high schools was higher (mean = 26.22; p = .0019), and there were different results between Brazilian state universities, Brazilian federal universities and the American university (p = .0149).

CONCLUSION

The diverger style was the most common among beginning nursing students in Brazil and the United States. There was a significant relationship between learning style, the educational background of students, the type of institution they attend and their previous experience with some active learning methodologies.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Aligned with Kolb's experiential learning theory, nurse educators must be aware of student learning styles so they may use teaching strategies to meet their students' needs.

Gett'n on the bus: evaluation of Sentinel City®3.0 virtual simulation in community/population health clinical placement

Objectives The purpose of this project was to implement and evaluate the integration of a computer-based virtual simulation program into a community clinical course as an alternative or complement to conventional clinical with agencies or neighbourhoods. Securing quality community health clinical opportunities for undergraduate nursing students remains challenging. In addition, evidence of a theory-practice gap in community clinical education, particularly in non-traditional settings, suggests that nurse educators need to adopt different pedagogies to ensure that students will gain competencies necessary to practice community/population health nursing. In response, we piloted the use of Sentinel City®3.0, a virtual reality simulation program. Method A 5-point Likert-style questionnaire was administered to students randomly assigned to different clinical placements. Results Results indicated that there were no learning outcomes in which students in Sentinel City®3.0 reported percentages lower than students in agencies or geographical neighbourhoods. When there were statistically significant differences, students engaged in Sentinel City®3.0 performed better than students in other experiences. Conclusion We recommend further exploration of multi-contextual pedagogies for community clinical.

A Practical Guide, With Theoretical Underpinnings, for Creating Effective Virtual Reality Learning Environments

With the advent of open source virtual environments, the associated cost reductions, and the more flexible options, avatar-based virtual reality environments are within reach of educators. By using and repurposing readily available virtual environments, instructors can bring engaging, community-building, and immersive learning opportunities to students. Based on many years of academic research and development within this environment, the authors suggest educationally productive, research-supported ways to create learning environments that can motivate, engage, and educate participants. Instructors can develop virtual communities as centers for meetings, collaborations, and shared experiences, moving distance experiences beyond the limitations of engagement and collaboration in nonimmersive settings. The authors explain how instructors can develop useful learning interactions, pilot their learning environments, assess learners, and evaluate the environment. Specific experiences, images, and videos from the authors’ work are shared as well as broader application that could suit multiple purposes in guiding an instructor’s development and instructional efforts.

Assessing Learning Styles of Graduate Entry Nursing Students as a Classroom Research Activity: A quantitative research study

BACKGROUND

A number of studies across different disciplines have investigated students' learning styles. Differences are known to exist between graduate and baccalaureate nursing students. However, few studies have investigated the learning styles of students in graduate entry nursing programs. .

OBJECTIVES

Study objective was to describe graduate entry nursing students' learning styles.

DESIGN/SETTING/PARTICIPANTS/METHODS

A descriptive design was used for this study. The Index of Learning Styles (ILS) was administered to 202 graduate entry nursing student volunteers at a southwestern university. Descriptive statistics, tests of association, reliability, and validity were performed. Graduate nursing students and faculty participated in data collection, analysis, and dissemination of the results.

RESULTS

Predominant learning styles were: sensing - 82.7%, visual - 78.7%, sequential - 65.8%, and active - 59.9%. Inter-item reliabilities for the postulated subscales were: sensing/intuitive (α=0.70), visual/verbal (α=0.694), sequential/global (α=0.599), and active/reflective (α=0.572). Confirmatory factor analysis for results of validity were: χ²(896)=1110.25, p<0.001, CFI=0.779, TLI=0.766, WRMR=1.14, and RMSEA =0.034.

CONCLUSIONS

Predominant learning styles described students as being concrete thinkers oriented toward facts (sensing); preferring pictures, diagrams, flow charts, demonstrations (visual); being linear thinkers (sequencing); and enjoying working in groups and trying things out (active),. The predominant learning styles suggest educators teach concepts through simulation, discussion, and application of knowledge. Multiple studies, including this one, provided similar psychometric results. Similar reliability and validity results for the ILS have been noted in previous studies and therefore provide sufficient evidence to use the ILS with graduate entry nursing students. This study provided faculty with numerous opportunities for actively engaging students in data collection, analysis, and dissemination of results.

Youth Perspectives on Sexual Health Workshops: Informing Future Practice

Newcomer and street-involved youth provided their perspective on the design and content of a sexual education workshop. Following the workshop, focus group discussions were held with 80 youth from four youth-serving agencies. Youth expressed increased levels of confidence and empowerment, consistent with recent criticism that a focus on specific behaviors as intervention outcome measures may miss important psychosocial changes in participants. Some youth views on cultural adaptation of workshops were not consistent with current views expressed by some adult educators, highlighting the need to ensure a youth perspective is captured during intervention development. Finally, the dichotomous views that youth expressed regarding workshop activities emphasizes a research gap related to how best to adapt interventions to different cognitive capacities, literacy levels, and learning styles. Information of this kind is relevant in terms of knowledge translation from youth to program planners and educators.

Identification of the Learning Styles and “On-the-Job” Learning Methods Implemented by Nurses for Promoting Their Professional Knowledge and Skills

The aim of this study was to identify the learning styles and methods used by nurses to promote their professional knowledge and skills. 928 nurses from 11 hospitals across Israel completed 2 questionnaires, (1) Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory, Version 3.1. and (2) the On-The-Job Learning Styles Questionnaire for the Nursing Profession. The most common learning style was the convergent style. The other learning styles were rated in the following descending order: accommodation, assimilation, and divergence. The on-the-job learning style consistently ranked highest was experience of relevant situations. On the other hand, seeking knowledge from books, journals, television, or the Internet was ranked lowest on all the indicators examined. With respect to general and on-the-job learning styles, statistically significant differences were found between groups of nurses by: country of birth, gender, department, age, education, and role. Nurses required to take more personal responsibility for their own professional development by deepening their self-learning skills.