Abstract
The purpose of this pilot study was to examine predictors of improvement in critical thinking skills among online graduate nursing students in a graduate nursing research course. Thirty-five students who had taken an online Nursing research course within the prior 12 months and who were currently enrolled in the online graduate Nursing program at Drexel University were sent a link to complete a via survey monkey ( which is an online data depository) by an honest broker at the University. Time spent in graduate school, course satisfaction, and whether or not a student felt supported were all predictive of improved critical thinking skills in the students. Connectedness (within the course, classroom, with the instructor and within the group) remained to be the highest predictor of whether or not students felt their critical thinking skills improved.
Highlights
Critical thinking has been one educational outcome paramount for learning in all Nursing programs and has been found to be an important skill [1]
Universities are increasingly asking graduate students to think in a transformative manner
Students need to engage more in the “new” rather than in more of the “same” thinking. This mode of thinking requires three abilities -analysis, evaluation and inference- [4] -important intellectual skills in critical thinking required in any Nursing research course This moves Nursing students at Drexel University out of the realm of vocational thinking, into the realm of intellectual thinking at the graduate level, which can move the Nursing profession into a more advanced direction
Summary
Critical thinking has been one educational outcome paramount for learning in all Nursing programs and has been found to be an important skill [1]. There is agreement by credentialing bodies that Universities need to initiate learning experiences to improve critical thinking skills in graduate students [2]. Students need to engage more in the “new” (transformative thinking) rather than in more of the “same” thinking (adaptive thinking). This mode of thinking requires three abilities -analysis, evaluation and inference- [4] -important intellectual skills in critical thinking required in any Nursing research course This moves Nursing students at Drexel University out of the realm of vocational thinking, into the realm of intellectual thinking at the graduate level, which can move the Nursing profession into a more advanced direction
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