Problem Solving, Self-Efficacy for Group Work and Socialization of Nursing Students Through a Cooperative Learning Group Investigation

Park, SoMi

Wednesday, 24 July 2013

SoMi Park, PhD, RN
WooYeong Park
HaNa Lee
KyungMin Lim
SunYoung Cho
Department of Nursing, Yonsei University, Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, South Korea

Learning Objective 1: to explain cooperative learning group investigation in a nursing research course.

Learning Objective 2: to compare the impact problem solving, self-efficacy, and socialization before and after the cooperative learning group investigation in a nursing research course.

Purpose: Nurse should have high levels of cognitive skill and teamwork in the work field as well as basic knowledge and skills. Also, social skills are essential if nurses are to be competent care providers as well as effective members of inter-disciplinary health care teams. Cooperative learning is pairing learners who possess varying degrees of knowledge to allow them to gain information from one another and promote academic achievement, critical thinking, retention, and enhanced oral communication skills. The study was done to identify differences in problem solving, self-efficacy for group work and socialization of nursing students before and after engaging in a cooperative learning group investigation that promoted each learner’s interaction and group learning.

Methods: The research design was a descriptive study, and participants were 60 undergraduate nursing majors enrolled in a nursing research course. Questionnaires were distributed by a research assistant and students were instructed to put them away until asked to get them out. Group investigation cooperative learning in the nursing research course in this study emphasized five key components; face-to-face interaction, individual and group accountability, interpersonal and small-group skills, positive interdependence, and group processing.

Results: Seven men and 53 women students ranging in age from 20 to 29 years, with a mean age of 22.6 years took part. Significant improvement in scores for problem solving (t=14.05, p<.001), self-efficacy for group work (t=8.65, p<.001), and socialization (t=2.72, p<.05) were found between pre-test and post-test.

Conclusion: The cooperative learning strategy was found to be useful in improving problem solving skills and self-efficacy for group work and socialization of nursing students through learning, explaining, discussing, or sharing what they know with their peers. As this process could help students be prepared as confident and collaborative nurses, it is recommended that it be applied in various academic curricula.

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