Department of Physiology, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine; An-Najah BioSciences Unit, Centre for Poisons Control, Chemical and Biological Analyses, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine.
Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine; An-Najah National University Hospital, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine.
Epilepsy Behav. 2020 May;106:107024. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2020.107024. Epub 2020 Mar 16.
This study was conducted to investigate if crossword puzzles as active learning tools can improve the knowledge retention of nursing students in pharmacology of epilepsy and improve their performance in writing the correct spelling of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs).
The present study was a randomized controlled prospective parallel study in which a control group design with pretests and posttests were used among nursing students. Students were randomly allocated to either control group (n = 114) who received routine learning or intervention group (n = 110) who received crossword puzzles. Both control and intervention groups had to complete multiple-choice question (MCQs) and spelling pretests and posttests.
Scores of the MCQs and spelling pretests were not statistically different (p-value > 0.05) for participants in all achievement categories in both control and intervention groups. In the intervention group, scores in the first and second MCQs and spelling posttests were significantly higher than their corresponding scores in the pretest scores for participants from the all achievement categories (p-value < 0.05) and scores of the first and second MCQs and spelling posttests were not significantly different (p-value > 0.05). Data analyses showed that there were significant normalized changes between scores of students in across all achievement categories.
Findings of this study suggested that crossword puzzles were effective in improving the learning of nursing students about the pharmacology of epilepsy and writing correct spelling of AEDs. Educators should consider using crossword puzzles as active learning tools to improve knowledge of nursing students about the pharmacology of epilepsy.
本研究旨在探讨纵横字谜作为主动学习工具是否可以提高护理学生在癫痫药理学方面的知识保留能力，并提高他们正确拼写抗癫痫药物（AEDs）的能力。
本研究为一项随机对照前瞻性平行研究，在护理学生中使用了对照组设计和前测后测。学生被随机分配到对照组（n=114），接受常规学习，或干预组（n=110），接受纵横字谜。对照组和干预组都必须完成多项选择题（MCQs）和拼写前测和后测。
在所有成就类别中，所有参与者的 MCQs 和拼写前测成绩在对照组和干预组中均无统计学差异（p 值>0.05）。在干预组中，所有成就类别参与者的第一和第二 MCQs 以及拼写后测成绩均显著高于其相应的前测成绩（p 值<0.05），并且第一和第二 MCQs 以及拼写后测成绩之间无显著差异（p 值>0.05）。数据分析表明，所有成就类别学生的分数之间存在显著的标准化变化。
本研究的结果表明，纵横字谜在提高护理学生对癫痫药理学的学习和正确拼写 AEDs 方面非常有效。教育者应考虑将纵横字谜作为主动学习工具，以提高护理学生对癫痫药理学的知识。
