Structured simulations improves students' knowledge acquisition and perceptions of teaching effectiveness: A quasi-experimental study.

AIMS

To determine the effect of adding structured simulation to a traditional classroom lecture format on students' knowledge acquisition and their evaluation of faculty teaching effectiveness, compared to traditional classroom lectures alone.

BACKGROUND

There is a critical lack of high-quality clinical placements/experiences in nursing education, particularly in clinical specialty populations, such as paediatrics. Simulation has been shown to help students practice in a safe environment. However, less is known about the outcomes of embedding simulation in didactic class sessions or classroom lectures. Additionally, data on the impact of simulation as a teaching pedagogy on faculty teaching effectiveness is limited.

DESIGN

Post-test, nonequivalent control group quasi-experimental study.

METHODS

Students in two prelicensure nursing programs participated in a 10-week term paediatric nursing course taught by the same faculty member on two different campuses. The students at one campus, designated as the control group (n = 43), received four hours of traditional, lecture-only, instructions. The group at a second campus, the intervention group (n = 44), received the same lectures with added structured simulations. Students' knowledge acquisition and their evaluation of faculty teaching effectiveness were measured in both groups using the same standardised assessment measures. The CONSORT checklist was followed.

RESULTS

Students' knowledge acquisition scores and their evaluation scores of faculty teaching effectiveness were significantly higher in the intervention (simulation) group compared to the control group. A significantly higher number of students in the simulation group scored above the national average Nursing Care of Children score as compared to students in the control group.

CONCLUSIONS

Integrating simulation with didactic instruction enhanced students' knowledge acquisition and improved their opinion of faculty teaching effectiveness.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Augmenting lecture with simulation may provide students with learning experiences that they may not have during clinical rotation due to a lack of paediatric clinical placement sites and differences between sites.