The Worked Example Effect in Novice Nursing Students' Clinical Reasoning

• In Event: Reasoning

Abstract

Objective. In nursing education, clinical reasoning is usually taught using a problem-solving approach. However, autonomous problem solving often causes difficulties in deep learning. We aimed to determine whether studying worked examples instead (and which types of worked examples) may prove a better alternative.
Methods. 61 second-year nursing students participated in a randomized pre-training post-test between-subjects design. Three training conditions where compared: process worked examples, product worked examples and problem-solving.
Results. Repeated measurement analysis confirmed a main effect of instruction. No difference was found between the process and product worked example conditions.
Conclusions. The findings indicate that students who studied worked examples improved their clinical reasoning, to a greater extent than students who engaged in problem solving.

Authors

• Joyce Vreuls, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences

• Anique de Bruin, Maastricht University