OBJECTIVES

This quality improvement study aimed to explore the viability of a learning pedagogy for medical students, the interactive journal club (IJC), in stimulating active learning and engagement among learners. The study intends to explore the benefits provided by the IJC when compared to traditional learning methods (e.g., traditional journal clubs). It attempts to highlight the importance of didactics which focus on active learning and interactive engagement between learners.

The IJC was implemented as a course requirement in HI 201: Health Informatics, a midyear elective course at the College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila. A class of MD-PhD (Molecular Medicine) students was divided into two separate groups: the designated leaders who presented the article and moderated the discussion, and the audience who did not read the article beforehand yet were involved in its critical analysis. The IJC was conducted twice in two different sections of MD-PhD (Molecular Medicine) students, across two different midyear terms, Midyear Term 2021, and Midyear Term 2022. Reflection papers were collected and the responses through this requirement were collated before the primary takeaways were extrapolated. A survey was also sent out to the students of each class to itemize the consolidated feedback of students on the proposed didactic.

The overall process of IJC was deemed both exciting and stimulating. The learning pedagogy provided an alternative platform for active learning, fostering a student-centered approach that placed a heavy emphasis on critical thinking. One major challenge identified in the implementation of the educational design was the heavy reliance on student participation which was identified to, at times, be a difficult factor to overcome. In order to improve its implementation, expectations may be set at the beginning and assessed at the end of the session. In addition, a pre- and post-questionnaire may be given to assess the perceived usefulness of this new method for qualitative comparison.

Interactive and student-centered modes of learning are empirical for the improvement of literature appraisal, journal presentation, and evidence-based critical thinking among medical students. IJCs may be utilized as an alternative and effective learning strategy in teaching pertinent skills expected of a proper physician. When compared to traditional pedagogies, IJCs provide a platform for deeper learning and enable the achievement of learning outcomes, with learner engagement as the focal point. Future attempts at executing IJCs may consider the implementation of learning outcomes setting, and the use of pre- and post-IJC surveys to assess the effectiveness of the modality.

PURPOSE

Reflective practice is widely recognized as a fundamental component of nursing education and professional development that had the potential to enhance critical thinking skills. This study intended to evaluate the effect of reflective practice interventions on the critical thinking capability of student nurses.

The quantitative, meta-analysis design was employed. CINAHL, Medline, PubMed, Health Sources and Google Scholar databases weresearched forpublications in English until December 2020.The studies were subjected to quality assessment with the JBI checklist, systematic data extraction and statistical analysis using Comprehensive Meta-analysis version 3.0.

A total of four studies satisfied the inclusion criteria. Reflective practice strategies such as journaling/journal writing and self-regulated learning had effectively enhance critical thinking skills of student nurses (summary effect=0.24; 95% CI [0.13-0.44]; p-value= 0.00004). Sensitivity analysis confirmed the strength of the findings and the publication bias was assessed and found to be minimal.

Reflective practice interventions had positive impact on the improvement of critical thinking capacity of nursing students. With the practical implications for nursing education and professional development, this study had recommended to integrate reflective practice strategies into the curriculum and training programs.

Humans ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell/pathology* ; Kidney Neoplasms/pathology* ; Thinking ; World Health Organization

Molecular biology is a biology course containing multiple core concepts and complex biological processes, which are organized in a strong logic. In order to help the medical students in college of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) understand the content of this professional foundation course, we integrated the mind mapping model into the three sessions of teaching this course. First, putting forward teaching questions through a "nine grids analysis" model before the class teaching; second, transforming class teaching through a "six thinking hats" model; third, reviewing teaching content through a "pyramid principle" model, which helps students develop closed-loop thinking skills. The students' understandings to the course content were enhanced by connecting, merging and diverging the relevant knowledge through thinking visualization. According to the questionnaire, 91% of the students believe that the application of mind mapping model is an effective teaching method, which improves the teaching efficiency and effect. Furthermore, 76% of the students deem this method helps them improve their thinking ability and they also try to apply this method to the study process of other courses. Therefore, the application of mind mapping model in teaching plays an important role in fostering students' high-order thinking skills and provides a new approach for college curriculum teaching.
Curriculum ; Humans ; Molecular Biology ; Students ; Thinking

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the effects of critical thinking and good communication skills on the problem-solving abilities of dental hygiene students. METHODS: A total of 508 dental hygiene students were convenience-sampled from 3 universities. RESULTS: The results revealed that critical thinking had the highest intellectual fairness score of 3.60, and systematicity was the lowest at 3.19. The values for communication skills were high in reaction, social adequacy, and concentration, with an average of 3.65. Problem-solving abilities were in the following order: clarification of the problem, seeking solutions, and decision making. According to general characteristics, more extroverted personalities possessed higher levels of critical thinking, communication skills, and problem-solving abilities (p<0.01). Critical thinking scores were high (p=0.016) in students who responded that peer relationship was difficult; however, their communication skills were the lowest (p<0.001). Additionally, problem-solving abilities were highest among students who reported a difficult peer relationship (p=0.001). The higher the satisfaction with dental hygiene academics, the higher the critical thinking, communication skill, and problem-solving ability (p<0.001). Critical thinking showed a high positive correlation with variables in the following order: clarification of the problem, performing the solutions, seeking solutions, decision making, and evaluation and reflection. The communication skills were also related to these variables listed above (p<0.01). With critical thinking, confidence, watchfulness, intellectual passion/curiosity, sound skepticism, objectivity, and systematicity all influenced the problem-solving ability. CONCLUSION: Communication skills were influenced by noise control, putting on the other's shoe, social tensions, and efficiency, which affected the problem-solving ability. Dental clinics require dental hygienists to have critical thinking to make analytical judgments and effective communication skills to solve human relation problems with patients and care-givers. Therefore, these skills should be developed in dental hygiene students to improve their problem-solving abilities.
Decision Making ; Dental Clinics ; Dental Hygienists ; Humans ; Judgment ; Noise ; Oral Hygiene ; Shoes ; Thinking

PURPOSE: This study aimed to identify the effect of a situational module learning course on critical thinking disposition and metacognition in sophomore nursing students. METHODS: This study was a non-equivalent control-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design; the participants included 64 nursing students (32 in the experimental and 32 in the control group) from two Korean universities. Critical thinking disposition and metacognition between the control and intervention groups were measured before and after program participation. Data collection was conducted between September 1 and December 15, 2016. An independent t-test was used to determine differences in critical thinking disposition and metacognition between the groups and Pearson's correlations were measured for correlation with critical thinking disposition and metacognition. RESULTS: The intervention group showed higher critical thinking disposition (t=3.16, p=.002); intellectual integrity (t=2.85, p=.006); and open-mindedness (t=3.30, p=.002) relative to those of the control group. However, there were no statistical differences in metacognition between the two groups (t=−0.14, p=.888). A significant positive correlation between metacognition and critical thinking disposition was found. (r=.62, p<.001). CONCLUSION: The situational module learning course developed in this study could be used to promote critical thinking disposition in nursing students.
Data Collection ; Humans ; Learning ; Metacognition ; Non-Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Nursing ; Students, Nursing ; Thinking

PURPOSE: To identify the effects of a communication program on nursing students' incivility, critical thinking, and clinical practice stress. METHODS: A randomized control group pretest-posttest study was conducted. Fifty randomly selected nursing students were divided into experimental and control groups. A 160-minute communication program was applied to the experimental group and a second survey was conducted two weeks later, shortly after their clinical practice. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference in the incivility experienced in the clinical practice after application of the communication program, and refusal in the sub-categories of incivility was statistically significant in this group. CONCLUSION: It is necessary to foster communication skills for nursing students. Communication programs reduce incivility. Therefore, nursing educators need to recognize the importance of communication during clinical practice and consider incorporating it into their regular curricula.
Curriculum ; Humans ; Nursing ; Students, Nursing ; Thinking

PURPOSE: This article is a comprehensive review for concept clarification of critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and clinical judgment, which still lack a consensus and are of mixed use. METHODS: Norris's method of concept clarification was used to review concepts that have no clear definition or conceptualization yet. RESULTS: This review summarized literature from various disciplines, classified each concept based on similarities and differences, and provided hypothetic conceptual schema. CONCLUSION: Clinical reasoning and clinical judgment are clinical situation specific concepts, while critical thinking is a concept applied in general situations. Critical thinking is a broader concept and serves as a foundation for clinical reasoning and clinical judgment. Clinical reasoning precedes clinical judgment. Clinical judgement implies the end point or conclusion of clinical reasoning. Each of critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and clinical judgment is a cognitive and affective process not a psychomotor process. The concept of clinical competency involves action taken after the cognitive processes of clinical reasoning and clinical judgment.
Clinical Competence ; Consensus ; Education, Nursing ; Judgment ; Methods ; Nursing ; Thinking

PURPOSE: This study focuses on investigating the effectiveness of simulation education on emergency management using a low-fidelity simulator as related to clinical skill performance, self-confidence, knowledge, learning satisfaction, and critical thinking disposition in new nurses. METHODS: A pre-post test experimental design of nonequivalent control group was applied. Fifty-five new nurses were recruited, 28 nurses for the experimental group and 27 nurses for the control group. A simulation education for emergency management comprising knowledge lecture, team learning, skill education, team simulation, and debriefing was developed and implemented from Feb. 14 to 27, 2015. Data were analyzed with percentage, average, and standard deviation, chi-square, and t-test using SPSS. RESULTS: The experimental group showed significantly higher knowledge (t=5.81, p<.001), clinical skill performance (t=10.08, p<.001), self-confidence (t=-6.24, p<.001), critical thinking disposition (t=2.42, p=.019), and learning satisfaction (t=4.21, p<.001) for emergency management compared with the control group who had traditional lecture education. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that a simulation education using a low-fidelity simulator is an efficient teaching method for new nurses to deepen their clinical skill performance, self-confidence, knowledge, learning satisfaction, and critical thinking disposition in learning emergency management.
Clinical Competence ; Education ; Emergencies ; Emergency Nursing ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Learning ; Patient Simulation ; Research Design ; Teaching ; Thinking

PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the effects of team-based learning using concept mapping on critical thinking disposition and metacognition on college of nursing students. METHODS: A non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used. The experimental group was provided team-based learning using concept mapping. The control group was provided team-based learning. A total of 77 nursing students participated. RESULTS: The experimental group increased significantly in critical thinking, however, there were no significant differences in critical thinking or metacognition between the two groups. The four essential themes extracted were as follows: (1) Expanding the scope of thinking; (2) Strengthening learning competency; (3) Enhancing communication skill; and (4) Burden of new learning method. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that team-based learning using concept maps may be an effective teaching-learning method for nursing students.
Humans ; Learning ; Metacognition ; Methods ; Nursing ; Students, Nursing ; Thinking