A Purposeful Strategy for Student Remediation to Improve Outcomes in a Medical-Surgical Nursing Course

Outcome: Application of improved student remediation and study techniques to increase individual student success on in class examinations through reflective, purposeful and active remediation to enhance student learning.

Current nursing education literature declares that purposeful and active remediation by the students’ faculty member is paramount to the success of learning in a pre-licensure nursing education program. The strategy discussed uses concept review following in class examinations to include the identification of a Top 10 concepts missed process. Faculty at a local college of nursing utilizes exam software statistics to evaluate the top 10 nursing concepts most frequently missed from each examination. The students are held accountable to identify three salient points from each of the top 10 concepts after self-reflection of their own exam performance. This process is required for successful remediation with the course faculty. Students are expected to write these out by hand to improve knowledge and retention of the material, using both the visual and kinesthetic styles of learning. By handwriting this information, students can be completely present and active with the concepts, allowing for both remembering and understanding to be cultivated for further application of learned material. This skill allows students to thoughtfully review each concept. By having the students select the three most salient points, the faculty can identify where the students need additional instruction for mastery of the concepts. This process further builds a more substantial relationship between the faculty and the student. The meeting between faculty and student provides an avenue for building a trusting relationship where faculty can better understand the specific needs of each student, and not just the student group as a whole. This process helps students understand the strategies that are needed in order to engage in a successful study session that enables them to move past studying for memorization to studying for a deeper understanding of concepts related to higher level application, analysis, and synthesis of the information. This process is well received by students and faculty. Students identify having an increased knowledge and understanding of nursing concepts in a Medical Surgical Nursing course that they are able to apply in future courses based on this deeper level of concept review.