Nursing Students' Attendance at Learning Activities in Relation to Attainment and Passing Courses

Title
A well-written title serves two fundamental purposes in research. The first purpose of the title is to provide a “clear statement to the reader of what to expect,” and the second purpose is to “help someone searching for an article on your topic area to find your paper,” (“What Makes a Good Title?” 2013). A clever title might not serve either of these purposes, which is why authors like Rejno, Nordin, Forsgren, et al (2017) opt for a straightforward and explicit title. The full title of the research is “Nursing students' attendance at learning activities in relation to attainment and passing courses: A prospective quantitative study.” Although clunky and lacking imagination, the title does fulfill the primary functions of alerting the reader what they can expect from the article, and making the article relatively easy to find in academic or peer-reviewed databases. In fact, the authors even point out what their research design is in the title (“a prospective quantitative study”), which helps readers to quickly identify whether or not this research is meaningful to them. Nurses seeking qualitative research would not waste their time on a prospective quantitative design like this one.
Likewise, the title of this research includes several keywords that make it easier to locate in databases, one of the most important aspects of evidence-based practice (Greenhalgh, 2010). The keywords or phrases used in the title include “nursing students,” “nursing students’ attendance,” and also “learning activities,” “attainment,” and “passing courses.” Rejno, Nordin, Forsgren, et al. (2017) essentially point out some of the major variables used in their quantitative research (attainment and passing courses), as well as the population sample (nursing students). Overall, this is a highly effective title that promotes evidence-based practice by reaching a broader audience and remaining visible to other researchers.
Abstract
According to Greenhalgh (2010), an abstract is “a short summary of what the article is all about, which you will find on the database as well as at the beginning of the printed article,” (p. 17). Therefore, the abstract shares in common with the title the need to be clear and contain direct information about what the article includes. A successful abstract is succinct, but it should also be thorough, which can be a difficult balance to achieve. Andrade (2011) recommends that an abstract include a brief, two to three sentence, explanation of the background information, information about the methods used in the research design, and a summation of the results or findings. However, a good abstract should also include a concluding statement that refers to the clinical or theoretical implications and applications of the research. The vast majority of readers will only see the abstract, making this the most important part of the written research (Andrade, 2011).
Rejno, Nordin, Forsgren, et al. (2017) fulfill all the above requirements of a good abstract, including a brief background statement, a statement of purpose or objectives, explication of research design and methods, presentation of results, and a concluding sentence. In fact, the abstract of the article “Nursing students' attendance at learning activities in relation to attainment and passing courses: A prospective quantitative study” uses subheadings to easily guide the reader’s eye across each of these important parts of the abstract. The abstract is both brief and thorough, achieving its primary goals of providing a snapshot of the research. When searching through a database, the reader can quickly ascertain the results of the study and its implications simply by glancing at the abstract.
Critique of Problem and Purpose
A problem statement and a statement of purpose both provide the focal point for the research, showing why the authors believe the issue is important. An effective problem statement identifies the target population and proposed intervention, as well as desired outcomes of the intervention (Greenhalgh, 2010). To be maximally effective, a problem statement and statement of purpose should also help the reader know whether the results of the study are going to be generalizable to a clinical practice setting. At the very least, a problem statement and statement of purpose lets a researcher or reader know whether the study is relevant to their current investigation.
In “Nursing students' attendance at learning activities in relation to attainment and passing courses: A prospective quantitative study,” Rejno, Nordin, Forsgren, et al (2017) introduce the problem first in the opening sentence of the background section: “One major concern in higher education is for students to pass exams and obtain their degrees,” (p. 36). The authors also claim, ”There is a lack of educated registered nurses in the Swedish health care system, creating a strong need for a high throughput of nursing students,” (Rejno, Nordin, Forsgren, et al., 2017, p. 37). After stating this problem, the authors proceed to a brief review of literature and conclude, “further research is needed to examine the relation between academic performance and attendance in non- mandatory learning activities as well as enlighten factors influencing this relationship, and our study aim to address these issues,” (Rejno, Nordin, Forsgren, et al., 2017, p. 36). Thus, the stated aim of the current study is to fill that gap in the literature and specifically to “describe the impact of attendance at non-mandatory learning activities on attainment, in terms of passing or failing of exams, in nursing education courses including both mandatory and non-mandatory activities,” (Rejno, Nordin, Forsgren, et al., 2017, p. 37). The problem and purpose are therefore both clearly stated. Moreover, the authors point out that the aim is to “describe” what the impact of the intervention will be, and also names the specific variables being measured, such as passing and failing exams. The authors therefore operationalize their definitions and variables even before they explain the methods used in the research.







References
Andrade, C. (2011). How to write a good abstract for a scientific paper or conference presentation. Indian Journal of Psychiatry 53(2): 172-175.
Greenhalgh, T. (2010). How to read a paper: The basics of evidence-based medicine. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
Rejno, A., Nordin, P., Forsgren, S., et al. (2017). Nursing students' attendance at learning activities in relation to attainment and passing courses: A prospective quantitative study. Nurse Education Today 50(2017): 36-41.
“What Makes a Good Title?” (2013). Health Information and Libraries Journal 30, pp. 259-260.