EFFECTS OF AGE-INTEGRATION ON THE SOCIAL CLIMATE OF NURSING SCHOOL CLASSES.
Contributors: Rutgers University.
Published: 1989
Number of pages: 91
Subjects: Education, Adult and Continuing.; Health Sciences, Nursing.; Education, Social Sciences.; Health Sciences, Education.
Description: The effects of age-integration on the nursing classroom environment has not been previously explored. Classroom climate, created by its participants, is an important influence on learning. The nursing classes studied consisted of both pre-adults and adults; the focus of this inquiry was on differences in perceptions of the ideal and actual nursing classroom environment for this age-integrated population.

It was hypothesized that a predominance of either adult or pre-adult students in the nursing classroom will result in greater discrepancies in perceptions of the social environment on the part of adult and pre-adult students. Nine research questions were posed concerning discrepancies in perceptions of the ideal and actual nursing classroom environment for both pre-adult and adult students and their teachers.

The sample consisted of 66 nursing classes from the 17 diploma schools of nursing in New Jersey. Students and teachers completed the Adult Classroom Environment Scale (ACES), which measures the seven dimensions of the organized adult learning environments. The data were collected in Fall, 1988.

The research hypothesis was tested by an ANOVA followed by the Scheffe test for comparison among means. The research questions were explored using a series of independent sample t-tests to compare discrepancy scores.

The findings indicated that in predominately adult nursing classrooms, there were greater discrepancies in perceptions of the social environment between adult and pre-adult students. In nursing classrooms where the majority of students were pre-adults, students' perceptions of the classroom social climate were similar. Teachers viewed the ideal and actual classroom environments more positively than did either student group.

A secondary analysis explored the effects of class scheduling (day or evening), sponsorship (private or Catholic) and teaching format (team or individual) on nursing students' and teachers' perceptions of classroom environment. In parochial nursing classrooms the perceived social climate was task oriented. Team taught classes were viewed to be more affiliative than non-team taught classes.

The study addresses an important issue in today's diploma nursing schools. Differences were found in age-integrated nursing classrooms that have significant implications for the teaching-learning transaction.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-12, Section: A, page: 3825.

Thesis (ED.D.)--RUTGERS THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY - NEW BRUNSWICK, 1989.

School code: 0190.