Learning Objective #1: Verbalize the relationship between critical thinking and vocabulary knowledge of lower level nursing students in an undergraduate nursing program

Learning Objective #2: Gain understanding of one nursing program's incorporation of and evaluation of critical thinking within their framework and curriculum

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This project compares lower division undergraduate nursing students on their baseline critical thinking skills and vocabulary knowledge. The student's actual vocabulary skills and their level of critical thinking will be described. It is early to determine whether we will see actual correlations but this assessment will provide a foundation for the ongoing program outcomes evaluation. This presentation is a continuation of a project within a curriculum that is being designed using Standards of Critical Thinking to determine educational effectiveness through multi-modal measurements of critical thinking (CT). The early results of the language and vocabulary measures as they relate to critical thinking skills will be presented. The relationship between critical thinking skills and language and vocabulary skills of approximately 200 BSN students will be explored. These students have completed Health Care and Nursing (Nursing 100) and Health Assessment (Nursing 230) courses. Formal vocabulary is introduced in Nursing 100 and the students are expected to gain vocabulary from their course: Introduction to Human Anatomy. The terminology necessary to succeed in human anatomy is then required for the Health Assessment course. The language and vocabulary knowledge demonstrated by students as related to their critical thinking skills will be described. Language and vocabulary measures reflect standard one - the critical thinking nursing student uses sophisticated contextual vocabulary appropriate to the discipline. We believe the increasingly sophisticated use of language to express the tenets and principles of the discipline constitutes critical knowledge and represents critical thought. Therefore, increasing vocabulary ability can be considered first level critical thinking. It is the assumption of the nursing program philosophy that critical thinking is required to perform at the professional level. Critical thinking is a complex activity that can be described in more than one way, the program will monitor the students' critical thinking skills as they progress.