Prediction of Grade Point Averages Using Cognitive and Noncognitive Predictor Variables

1973 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl L. Reed ◽  
John F. Feldhusen ◽  
Adrian P. Van Mondfrans

This study investigated the usefulness of a number of noncognitive variables in improving the prediction of students' first semester, second semester, and first-year grade point averages. Freshman nursing students entering five associate degree nursing schools between 1964 and 1967 ( N = 495) were used as the validation sample. The cross-validation sample included the 1968 ( N = 170) entrants. When added to a battery of established cognitive predictors, several noncognitive variables added a unique and significant increment to the prediction of grade point averages in associate degree nursing programs. These variables were: age in months of the student, year of entry into nursing school, level of previous education of the student, and the particular school attended. These results encourage future studies in search of new noncognitive variables to improve prediction. Measures of a student's past health and practical experience might be worthy of future study.

1977 ◽  
Vol 5 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 18-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn Chambers Clark

Learning outcomes of a simulation game designed to have one-to-one correspondence between behavioral objectives and game plays is reported The behavioral objectives were core concepts in psychiatric mental health nursing taught to associate degree nursing students. Decisions to use the simulation game method grew out of difficulties inherent in the community college nursing program, as well as the need for self-paced, efficient, learner-centered learning and evaluative tools. After the trial and revision of the game, a number of research hypotheses were tested Simulation gaming was found to be an effective mode of learning, and students who acted as teachers for other students learned significantly more than those who were taught. Some of the recommendations for further research were to study varied nursing populations, to add a control group, to test the long-range learning effects of playing the game, to decrease experimenter bias, to study transfer of learning to actual nurse-patient situations and changes in attitudes toward psychiatric patients, and to develop more simulation games for nursing education.


Author(s):  
Velmarie King Swing

Critical Thinking (CT) in the nurse graduate continues to be a topic of concern in the academic and acute care settings. Few studies focus on early evaluation of Critical Thinking Skills (CTS). The purpose of this chapter is to show how the non-experimental, explanatory, quantitative study, the Kaplan CTIT, was employed to determine if a transformation in the level of CTS occurs within the first semester of associate degree nursing students. Participants completed the pretest in the first three weeks of classes. Posttests were given after course finals. A significant transformation in the level of CT occurred. The estimated change in CT test scores was 2.04, with 95% confidence. Implications for early measurement of CTS in nursing programs reveals if teaching methodology is providing the necessary input for developing CTS or if evaluation and changes are needed.


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