Ministry of Health, Rumphi District Hospital, P.O Box 225, Rumphi, Malawi.
School of Nursing, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS), Lilongwe, Malawi.
BMC Med Educ. 2024 Jul 12;24(1):757. doi: 10.1186/s12909-024-05746-y.
Students' approaches to learning are of essence in nursing education. This is because nursing is a profession where classroom learning leads to clinical performance. Although the literature recognizes student's approaches to learning as a significant aspect affecting the quality of students' learning, studies suggest that quality of learning has not been highly achieved in Malawian nursing colleges. Currently, there is a scarcity of empirical data on the learning approaches that Malawian nursing and midwifery students in nursing colleges employ. This study assessed the different approaches to learning among nursing and midwifery students in selected Malawian nursing colleges.
This was a cross- sectional study that employed quantitative methods. The target population was nursing and midwifery students pursuing nursing diplomas from Nkhoma College of Nursing, Ekwendeni College of Health Sciences and Malawi College of Health Sciences. A total of 251 students were sampled randomly from the three nursing colleges. Data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire (R-SPQ-2 F) by Biggs. The data was analyzed using chi-square and binary logistic regression. In this study Cronbach's alpha was 0.6.
Most students had used a deep approach to learning (M = 3.201, SD = 0.623) than the surface approach (M = 2.757, SD = 0.732). Being in the age category of 16-20 had more likelihood of adopting a surface approach to learning compared to other age categories (X = 7.669, DF 2, P = .02). Students from Malawi College of Health Sciences were more likely to adopt a surface approach to learning compared to students from Nkhoma Nursing College and Ekwendeni College of Health Sciences (X = 12.388, df = 2, P = .002).
A deep approach to learning emerged as the most preferred approach to learning which indirectly implies that most students attain meaningful learning. Age and environment are some of the key determinants associated with different learning approaches. More attention should be given to younger students during teaching and learning to promote deep learning.
学生的学习方法在护理教育中至关重要。这是因为护理是一门课堂学习与临床表现密切相关的职业。尽管文献认为学生的学习方法是影响学生学习质量的重要方面，但研究表明，马拉维护理学院的学习质量并未得到高度重视。目前，关于马拉维护理和助产专业学生在护理学院所采用的学习方法，缺乏实证数据。本研究评估了选定马拉维护理学院护理和助产专业学生的不同学习方法。
这是一项采用定量方法的横断面研究。研究对象为来自恩科韦恩迪健康科学学院、姆祖祖护理学院和马拉维健康科学学院的护理文凭学生。从这三所护理学院中，共随机抽取了 251 名学生进行抽样。通过比格斯的自我管理问卷（R-SPQ-2 F）收集数据。使用卡方检验和二元逻辑回归分析数据。在这项研究中，Cronbach's alpha 为 0.6。
大多数学生采用了深度学习方法（M=3.201，SD=0.623），而不是表面学习方法（M=2.757，SD=0.732）。与其他年龄组相比，16-20 岁年龄组更有可能采用表面学习方法（X=7.669，DF 2，P=0.02）。与姆祖祖护理学院和恩科韦恩迪健康科学学院的学生相比，马拉维健康科学学院的学生更有可能采用表面学习方法（X=12.388，df=2，P=0.002）。
深度学习方法成为最受欢迎的学习方法，这间接表明大多数学生都能获得有意义的学习。年龄和环境是与不同学习方法相关的一些关键决定因素。在教学过程中，应更加关注年轻学生，以促进深度学习。
