Using Evidence-Based Teaching to Support an Innovative Teaching Strategy in an Undergraduate Research Course: A Longitudinal Study

Wilson, Astrid H.

Purpose: This longitudinal study was aimed at providing evidence-based teaching for an innovative teaching strategy in an undergraduate research course.

Method: A longitudinal survey design was used to elicit students’ responses about an assigned group project. The instrument used was the Evidence-Based Group Assignment Survey, a 21 item Likert type survey developed by the author. The responses were strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), somewhat agree (3), agree (4), and strongly agree (5) thus a summated score could be obtained between 21 and 105. The items related to how the assignment helped students gain knowledge, skills in critiquing research articles, making decisions related to evidence-based practice, and confidence in themselves to be better prepared to participate in evidence-based activities as an RN. The survey was administered at the end of eight separate research classes from 2008 to 2014. IRB approval was obtained for this research study. The innovative teaching strategy will be described so it can be used by other edducators.

Results: The sample consisted of 225 undergraduate nursing students who were predominately traditional students, with some accelerated students and few RN-BSN students. The majority of the participants were female (96%) and 90% were traditional students. The mean summated score for all groups (225) ranged from 78 to 93. The mean scores on each item on the instrument ranged from 3.89 to 4.62 (out of 5) indicating that no means were in categories of disagree or strongly disagree. Internal consistency of the instrument was established using a Cronbach’s Alpha for each group. The alpha score for the entire sample was .94 (very high).

Implications: There is a continuous need to determine teaching strategies that have an evidence-based teaching practice. The Evidence-based Assignment in this study has empirical support for its use. Students can gain more knowledge of evidence-based practice in nursing courses with innovative strategies with evidence support. With evidence-based teaching practice clinical settings will have new graduates who are better prepared to identify clinical problems needing evidence, locate, understand, and critique research articles and systematic reviews. Students also will be better able to participate in evidenced-based projects in the clinical setting which is especially important in agencies seeking Magnet status.