Abstract
ABSTRACT Objective: to compare the levels of general critical thinking and the skills or cognitive attributes involved, individually measured during the training of undergraduate nursing students, through a teaching intervention using Concept Maps. Method: an experimental, randomized, double-blind study with before and after design, conducted with 77 undergraduate nursing students. The research subjects were randomized to the control (38) and experiment (39) groups and both participated in a course on Advanced Life Support in Cardiology for a period of five weeks, when the intervention was the construction of four concept maps. Data collection took place through a sociodemographic questionnaire and the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) before and after the course and after in order to measure critical thinking. Results: sociodemographic data confirmed that the groups had similar characteristics. After the intervention using the concept maps, the mean pre-and post-test general critical thinking averages were classified as moderate and showed no statistically significant difference. The t-test for paired samples showed a significantly increased Evaluation skill score (p-value of 0.022) in the posttest for the experiment group. Conclusion: the use of the teaching strategy with construction of the concept maps performed well in the promotion of General Critical Thinking and its abilities. Teaching strategies based on constructivist theories should be encouraged as they play a significant role in improving student learning and critical thinking.
Highlights
Studies report that nurse education is not always able to prepare its students for the required work demands of nurses
This study examined the effectiveness of the concept map teaching strategy during an ACLSthemed extension course, on the average of critical thinking and its cognitive skills or attributes in undergraduate nursing students from two regions of Brazil
The use of the concept map teaching strategy in the Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) course performed well in the promotion of critical thinking, as the average score of evaluation, induction and deduction skills increased according to the Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST)
Summary
Studies report that nurse education is not always able to prepare its students for the required work demands of nurses. Critical thinking consists of cognitive skills or attributes that refer to assessment, analysis, inference, induction, and deduction which enable nurses to identify the necessary information, distinguish the problems that require immediate intervention, and consider the possible consequences of each action.[1,2,3,4,5]. In this context, recognizing and encouraging a close relationship between clinical reasoning ability and critical thinking is fundamental to nurse education, since their skills contribute to the ability to interpret and analyze clinical problems, evaluate evidence and make inferences, draw conclusions and implement effective interventions.[6]. The objective of this research was the use of the concept map development strategy as a pedagogical resource for the teaching of Advanced Life Support in Cardiology (SAVC), since emergency care services require health professionals to understand its structure and political link within the other services, as well as their ability to act in specific care, with technical, communication, interaction with other areas of expertise, patients, family members, always guided by scientific basis for the recovery of patients or to reduce their health problems
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