STUDENTS' ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN NURSING AS A FUNCTION OF STUDENT AND FACULTY LEARNING STYLE CONGRUENCY.
Contributors: University of Mississippi.
Published: 1987
Number of pages: 132
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Education, Higher.
Description: The purpose of this study was to identify learning styles of traditional baccalaureate nursing students, registered nurse baccalaureate students, and nurse educators, and to determine the effects of learning style congruency on academic performance.

Kolb's Learning Style Inventory and a Descriptive Data Questionnaire were administered to 55 traditional baccalaureate students, 25 registered nurse baccalaureate students, and 7 nurse educators in a privately owned and operated school of nursing in Mississippi. Following collection of the data, learning style scores were computed and faculty and student learning style congruency was identified as (1) matched, (2) vertical, (3) horizontal, or (4) mismatched. Clinical nursing course grades were used to measure academic performance. Students' liberal arts grade point average was recorded and used to control for previous academic ability. Seven hypotheses were tested.

Statistical analyses of the data were computed, using Fisher's Exact Probability Test, t test, analysis of covariance, and analysis of variance. The following conclusions were drawn from the analyses of the data: (1) There was no significant difference in learning style between traditional and registered nurse baccalaureate students. (2) There was no significant difference in academic performance between traditional and registered nurse baccalaureate students. (3) Learning style congruency between nursing students and nursing faculty did not appear to significantly affect academic performance of student participants in this study.

The results of this study support the following recommendations for further research: (1) Learning styles of traditional and registered nurse baccalaureate students from nursing schools in various geographical locations with varying size and curricula should be studied and compared. (2) Learning style differences between incoming nursing students and more advanced nursing students should be further investigated. (3) The relationship between learning style congruency and productivity should be examined using multiple indicators of academic performance or more specific behavioral outcomes. (4) The relationship between learning style and teaching style should be examined. (5) The effects of the relationship of learning style congruency under a more experimental research design needs further investigation. (6) The effect of the integrated approach to nursing education on learning style and student productivity should be evaluated.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-01, Section: B, page: 0074.

Thesis (PH.D.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI, 1987.

School code: 0131.