Poster Presentation
Thursday, July 12, 2007
9:30 AM - 10:15 AM
Thursday, July 12, 2007
3:15 PM - 4:00 PM
Infusing Critical Thinking Skills Course Design for RN-BSN Nursing Program in Taiwan: the Initial Stage of an action Research
Pei-Rong Chang, RN, MS, Sheila Sheu, PhD, Man-Hua Shen, MSN, Su-Fen Cheng, RN, PhD, Hsiu-Fang Hsieh, and Fu-Ju Tsai, MSN. Department of Nursing, Fooyin University, Kaohsiung Hsien, Taiwan
| Learning Objective #1: The learner will be able to understand infusing critical thinking skills course design for RN-BSN nursing program. |
| Learning Objective #2: The learner will be able to understand the lecturing for infusing critcall thinking skills courses. |
Nursing is facing great challenges in the 21st century. Critical thinking is the most common and important thinking skill for professionals to make better clinical decision-making. It’s important to promote critical thinking skills in the nursing education. However, a systematic teaching model for lectures and scenario exercises to enhance critical thinking ability was little described in the previous studies. This study represents a first year action research for infusing critical thinking skills course design. The purpose was to design an appropriate infusing critical thinking skills course for RN-BSN students in Taiwan. This study used participant action research design. All 20 nursing faculty participated into this study. Through literature review, workshops, and numerous discussions, the teaching strategies and evaluation criteria for infusing the following critical thinking skills were developed: (1) problem clarification, (2) information validation, (3) problem identification, (4) rational action, (5) updating evaluation, and (6) meta-regulation. A systemic teaching model of lectures was developed in this study. The model includes guidelines for lecture, teaching strategies for critical thinking, and evaluation tools for critical thinking. The guidelines for in-course teaching include Identification of Critical Thinking, Course Plan, Course Structure, Principles of Scenario Design, Core Questions for Scenario Exercise, An Example of Handout Teaching Plan, and An Example of Final Examination. The teaching strategies consist of lecturing, questioning, scenario case analysis, and peer group discussion. The evaluation tools for critical thinking include Evaluation for Scenario Exercise, and Final Case Analysis Pencil Examination. The result of this study was the first stage for the success of the entire 3 year project for critical thinking curriculum. The implementation of this model will be followed and evaluated. The result of this course design will facilitate students to develop better critical thinking skills, as well as improve students’ ability to provide better quality care.