Quantitative Study Review Learning Styles of Graduate Level Nursing Students

Quantitative Study Review
Abstract
This paper provides a review of a quantitative study and determines the purpose, sample, method, findings and credibility of the study. It also examines the interventions and whether there was any clinical significance to the findings. By examining the significance and credibility of the study it shows its value in nursing research.
The purpose of the study by Gonzales et al. (2017) was to describe graduate entry nursing students' learning styles. The research question was: “What are the predominant learning styles of graduate entry nursing students?” (Gonzales et al., 2017, p. 56). The study did not make any hypothesis prior to conducting the Index of Learning Styles (ILS) survey.
The sample for the study was obtained by recruiting 202 graduate entry nursing student volunteers at a southwestern university. This was essentially a convenience sample. No inclusion or exclusion criteria were discussed in the study, but in order to participate in the study the participant had to be an entry-level graduate nursing student at the university from which participants were recruited. The ILS was administered to six cohorts of entry-level graduate nursing students at the southwestern university from the years 2011 to 2015. Of the 285 students to whom the study was explained and consent was given, 202 completed participation in the study; thus dropout rate was under 30% over the five year period. Demographics of the participants were as follows: age range was 21–56 years, with a mean age of 28.93 years; 62% female; 61% Caucasian; 63% from an urban or suburban home.
The method used to collect data was the ILS, which uses 44 items assessing learning styles in four dimensions, with the results being provided on a scale of preferences, with responses being binary, 11 items in each scale, and the total score on a scale from ?11 to +11 indicating the preference for the style. Responses were then scored to make statistical analysis easier, with (a) items being given a value of 1, (b) items given a value of 0, and adding the score. Learning style preference for active, sensing, visual and sequential scales were demonstrated by scale scores of 6 through 11. A score of 1 through 5 thus indicated a reflective, intuitive, verbal or global learning style, according to the authors (Gonzales et al., 2017). Descriptive statistics were then used to measure centrality, dispersion, and frequencies. No intervention was tested and there was no random assignment of participants to a control group. The sample size was determined using the computed sample size and margin error software at http://www.surveysystem.com/sscalc.htm.
The main findings of the study were that the predominant learning styles were: sensing with 82.7% of students preferring this style; visual with 78.7% also using this style; and sequential with 65.8% of students using this style; and active with 59.9% of students using this style.
The study was published in a source that required peer review—Nurse Education Today journal. The design used was appropriate to the research question. Data obtained and the analysis conducted did answer the research question, as the findings showed. The measuring instruments were reliable and valid. Extraneous variables and bias were not controlled throughout the study or at least were not described within the study. It is unclear whether the study, overall, was free of extraneous variables. The findings were consistent with findings from other studies, including those by McKenna, Copnell, Butler and Lau (2018); Brannan, White and Long (2016); AbuAssi and Alkorashy (2016); and Vizeshfar and Torabizadeh (2018). The findings were credible, as the methods used to obtain them were sound, the design appropriate, the results generalizeable, the findings consistent with what others have found, and peer-review was conducted.
Any difference in means or measures of clinical effects was not noted in the study. The target population was clearly described as entry-level graduate nursing students in America. As no intervention was conducted and no test provided any discussion of clinical significance of the findings is a moot point. The findings bear no clinical significance at all.
Overall the study was highly interesting from a nurse educator’s point of view as it provided information on the preferred learning styles of entry-level graduate nurses at a southwestern university in America over the course of five years. That is important information that can be used to help nurse educators prepare a proper curriculum that would consist of blending simulation, clinical experience, traditional classroom learning, and interaction to deliver a complete learning experience that can benefit graduate level nursing students sufficiently and prepare them to enter into the field. The study could be used to both advance future research on how graduate level nursing students learn best and what modes of learning teachers should emphasize for their students. The study offered compelling insight into how nursing students want to be taught at the graduate level, as they are preparing for their field at a higher level that often requires more hands-on active learning.
References
AbuAssi, N. E., & Alkorashy, H. A. E. (2016). Relationship between learning style and readiness for self-directed learning among nursing students at king Saud university, Saudi Arabia. International journal of advanced nursing studies, 5(2), 109-116.
Brannan, J. D., White, A., & Long, J. (2016). Learning styles: Impact on knowledge and confidence in nursing students in simulation and classroom. International journal of nursing education scholarship, 13(1), 63-73.
Gonzales, L. K., Glaser, D., Howland, L., Clark, M. J., Hutchins, S., Macauley, K., ... & Ward, J. (2017). Assessing learning styles of graduate entry nursing students as a classroom research activity: a quantitative research study. Nurse education today, 48, 55-61.
McKenna, L., Copnell, B., Butler, A. E., & Lau, R. (2018). Learning style preferences of Australian accelerated postgraduate pre-registration nursing students: A cross-sectional survey. Nurse education in practice, 28, 280-284.
Vizeshfar, F., & Torabizadeh, C. (2018). The effect of teaching based on dominant learning style on nursing students' academic achievement. Nurse education in practice, 28, 103-108.