THE SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING READINESS OF BACCALAUREATE NURSING STUDENTS (NURSING STUDENTS).
Contributors: University of Maryland, College Park.
Published: 1991
Number of pages: 164
Subjects: Education, Adult and Continuing.; Health Sciences, Nursing.; Education, Higher.
Description: The purposes of this study were to describe the self-directed learning readiness of senior baccalaureate nursing students and to identify factors which influence this readiness. Among the potential influences on student self-directed learning readiness considered in the study were the type of nursing student, demographic features, the self-directed learning readiness of program faculty, and opportunities for self-directed learning provided in the nursing program.

A total of 357 senior nursing students and 86 faculty from two university schools of nursing in the Washington, D.C. area participated in the study. Subjects completed a three-part questionnaire tailored (Parts 1 and 3) to the student and faculty groups. Part 1 elicited demographic data, Part 2 consisted of Guglielmino's (1977) Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS), and Part 3 solicited information related to opportunities received (student version) or provided (faculty version) for self-directed learning (SDL) in the undergraduate program. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed for data analysis.

Both the mean student and faculty SDLRS scores rated as "above average." There were no significant differences in either student or faculty SDLRS scores by school, but faculty SDLRS scores were significantly higher than those of students.

There was a significant difference in SDLRS scores based on the type of nursing student: students with a bachelor's degree in a non-nursing field had significantly higher SDLRS scores than either traditional/generic students or students who were already RNs.

A student's gender, marital status, prior instruction in SDL, and opportunities for self-directed learning in their educational program had no relationship to their SDLRS score, but their age, prior experience with SDL projects, and cumulative GPA were positively associated with their SDLRS score.

For faculty, there was no significant difference in SDLRS scores based on age, gender, marital status, completion of a course on SDL teaching methods, educational level, or years since completion of their last degree.

The findings of this study support the conclusions that baccalaureate nursing programs afford only a limited amount of SDL opportunities for students and that faculty perceive that they provide SDL opportunities much more frequently than students perceive receiving them.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-06, Section: A, page: 1980.

Thesis (ED.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK, 1991.

School code: 0117.