Journal article
A whole-of-curriculum approach to improving nursing students' applied numeracy skills
Nurse Education Today, Vol.34(3), pp.462-467
2013
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Abstract
<p><h4 id="x-x-x-x-absSec_1">Background</h4> <p id="x-x-x-x-sp0005">Nursing students often perform poorly on numeracy tests. Whilst one-off interventions have been trialled with limited success, a whole-of-curriculum approach may provide a better means of improving applied numeracy skills. <h4 id="x-x-x-x-absSec_2">Objective</h4> <p id="x-x-x-x-sp0010">The objective of the study is to assess the efficacy of a whole-of-curriculum approach in improving nursing students' applied numeracy skills. <h4 id="x-x-x-x-absSec_3">Design</h4> <p id="x-x-x-x-sp0015">Two cycles of assessment, implementation and evaluation of strategies were conducted following a high fail rate in the final applied numeracy examination in a Bachelor of Nursing (BN) programme. Strategies included an early diagnostic assessment followed by referral to remediation, setting the pass mark at 100% for each of six applied numeracy examinations across the programme, and employing a specialist mathematics teacher to provide consistent numeracy teaching. <h4 id="x-x-x-x-absSec_4">Setting</h4> <p id="x-x-x-x-sp0020">The setting of the study is one Australian university. <h4 id="x-x-x-x-absSec_5">Participants</h4> <p id="x-x-x-x-sp0025">1035 second and third year nursing students enrolled in four clinical nursing courses (CNC III, CNC IV, CNC V and CNC VI) were included. <h4 id="x-x-x-x-absSec_6">Methods</h4> <p id="x-x-x-x-sp0030">Data on the percentage of students who obtained 100% in their applied numeracy examination in up to two attempts were collected from CNCs III, IV, V and VI between 2008 and 2011. A four by two <em>χ</em><sup>2</sup> contingency table was used to determine if the differences in the proportion of students achieving 100% across two examination attempts in each CNC were significantly different between 2008 and 2011. <h4 id="x-x-x-x-absSec_7">Results</h4> <p id="x-x-x-x-sp0035">The percentage of students who obtained 100% correct answers on the applied numeracy examinations was significantly higher in 2011 than in 2008 in CNC III (<em>χ</em><sup>2</sup> = 272, 3; p < 0.001), IV (<em>χ</em><sup>2</sup> = 94.7, 3; p < 0.001) and VI (<em>χ</em><sup>2</sup> = 76.3, 3; p < 0.001). <h4 id="x-x-x-x-absSec_8">Conclusions</h4> <p id="x-x-x-x-sp0040">A whole-of-curriculum approach to developing applied numeracy skills in BN students resulted in a substantial improvement in these skills over four years. <h2 id="x-x-x-x-kwd_1"> </h2></p>
Details
- Title
- A whole-of-curriculum approach to improving nursing students' applied numeracy skills
- Creators
- Thea F van de Mortel - Southern Cross UniversityLeeann P Whitehair - Southern Cross UniversityPauletta M Irwin - Southern Cross University
- Publication Details
- Nurse Education Today, Vol.34(3), pp.462-467
- Identifiers
- 2590; 991012820310202368
- Academic Unit
- School of Health and Human Sciences
- Resource Type
- Journal article