EFFECTIVENESS OF TWO TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR CHANGING VOCATIONAL NURSING STUDENTS' ATTITUDES TOWARD THE OLDER ADULT.
Contributors: Texas A & M University.
Published: 1984
Number of pages: 323
Subjects: Education, Adult and Continuing.
Description: This study was designed to determine whether field experience is a more effective academic strategy for changing attitudes toward the elderly when teaching gerontology in a vocational nursing program as compared to the traditional in-class methodology.

When comparing these two methods, the research questions were posed to determine whether significant differences existed toward the elderly: (a) in perceptions as measured by Palmore's Facts on Aging Quiz, (b) in feelings as measured by the amended Kogan's Sentence Completion Form, (c) in attitudes as measured by a structured group discussion; and in the experimental group, whether congruence existed between formative indicators of attitude as measured by students' critical incidents and summative indicators of attitude.

The method used was pre-test/post-test control group design along with content analysis. The experimental group had field experience as a method of studying gerontology; the control group was taught in the traditional in-class methodology. Both groups were given pre-tests and post-tests. The sample was the first semester vocational nursing students, St. Philip's College, Spring, 1982. The experimental group consisted of 29 students; the control group of 34 students.

A significant difference as measured at the criterion level of p < .05 was not found between the two groups a measured by either the Palmore's Facts on Aging Quiz or the amended Kogan Sentence Completion Form. Only when examining selected individual items on each of the measures were significant differences seen. Content analysis of the group discussion was used to identify positive and negative phrases. After placing values on the phrases and analyzing data by the use of Chi-square, in the experimental group, a significant difference at the criterion level of p < .05 between pre- and post-test discussion was seen within the group on both positive and negative phrases. No significant differences were found within the control group. In the experimental group, no congruence was found between formative and summative measures of attitudes.

The results of the study indicated that while field experience is a valuable tool for learning, it is difficult to isolate which factors are most responsible for changing attitudes. The results also suggest that it may be extraordinarily difficult to quantify qualitative data.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-12, Section: A, page: 3516.

Thesis (ED.D.)--TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY, 1984.

School code: 0803.