Analysis of peer-assisted learning on critical thinking ability of undergraduate nursing students

Abstract

Objective To analyze the implementation effects of peer-assisted learning on critical thinking ability of undergraduate nursing students. Methods A total of 411 college nursing students were selected with 203 students of Class One, Class Three, and Class Five from Grade 2012 majoring in nursing were taken as the control group, 208 students of Class Two, Class Four, and Class Six as the experimental group. In the course of basic nursing practice, the control group was trained by the traditional practice, and the experimental group was trained by the way of peer mutual aid. Critical thinking disposition inventory Chinese version (CTDI-CV) was adopted to evaluate the level of critical thinking ability of the nursing students of both groups. SPSS 17.0 was used and the data of the two groups were compared by t test. Results The score of experimental group students' critical thinking ability and the score of 7 dimensions including their seeking truth, analysis ability, self-confidence, inquisitiveness, cognitive maturity, open mind and systematic ability were higher than those before the experiment (P<0.05). The total score of the experimental group students' critical thinking ability and the score of 5 dimensions including seeking truth, analysis ability, self-confidence, curiosity and cognitive maturity were higher than those of the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion Peer-assisted learning is beneficial to the improvement of critical thinking ability of nursing undergraduate students. Key words: Peer-assisted learning; Critical thinking disposition inventory