Paper
Friday, 21 July 2006
This presentation is part of : Studies and Assessments of Student Nurses
Learning Styles of Net Generation Nursing Students
Lynne C. Borucki, PhD, CRNP and Anne Marie Krouse, PhD, RN. Nursing, Widener University, Chester, PA, USA
Learning Objective #1: describe the diverse learning styles of today’s nursing students.
Learning Objective #2: discuss strategies of teaching that will accommodate today's nursing students' diverse learning styles.
Today’s nursing students are vastly different from nursing students of the past.  No longer are they passive purveyors of information, but they want and need to be actively involved in attaining and applying information and expect immediate feedback and interactive learning. Today’s nurse educators need to consider changing their paradigm to address the needs of today’s students and tomorrow’s nurses. The purpose of this study was to describe the diverse learning styles of today’s nursing students. The Solomon/Felder Index of Learning Styles (ILS) measures four dimensions of learning: processing (active/reflective), perception (sensing/intuitive), input (visual/verbal), and understanding (sequential/global). Qualitative comments, using an open-ended questionnaire, were also obtained. A convenience sample of 86 nursing students attending the 2004 National Student Nurses Association convention were recruited to participate in this study. Ranging in age from 18-49 years, 91% of the students were female and 9% were male. Forty-eight percent of the students were enrolled in a baccalaureate program, 48% in an associate program, and 4% in a diploma nursing program. The results of the ILS indicated that 79% of the students scored as active learners, 84% as sensing learners, 78% as visual learners, and 64% as sequential learners. This was consistent with the qualitative data where students reported wanting to be actively involved in the classroom; their preference for hands-on work and their need for relevant information, details, and examples; their need for visual cues; and their need for teacher organization, details and step-by-step instructions. The implications for nursing faculty as a result of this study include the need to make multiple methods of learning available to students to meet their diverse learning styles. By understanding the learning needs of today’s students, nurse educators can better engage them in the learning process and foster essential critical thinking skills.

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See more of The 17th International Nursing Research Congress Focusing on Evidence-Based Practice (19-22 July 2006)