Comprehensive evaluation of critical thinking skills and attitudes of students in the Department of Nursing at Rockford Colleg

The problem addressed in this study was that there had been no evaluation of improvement in the critical thinking (CT) skills and attitudes of nursing students related to the nursing curriculum. No mechanism existed to obtain student input.;The purposes for this project were to determine if there were longitudinal changes in CT skills and attitudes during the sophomore and junior years of the nursing curriculum and if there were cross sectional differences in CT test scores between sophomore, junior, and senior students. In addition a mechanism was developed to obtain feedback from nursing students related to the improvement in CT skills and attitudes due to the nursing curriculum. Changes in the nursing curriculum and CT testing were recommended based on student input and CT test scores.;There were six research questions for this study. First, "What were the appropriate criteria of a questionnaire for nursing students to evaluate the development and/or improvement in CT skills and attitudes as a result of the nursing curriculum?" Second, "What were the appropriate content and format of a questionnaire for nursing students to evaluate the improvement in CT skills and attitudes as a result of the nursing curriculum?" Third, "What changes or modifications should be made in the nursing curriculum based upon student input?" Fourth, "Did the nursing curriculum improve the CCTST and CCTDI scores of nursing students at Rockford College?" Fifth, "What changes, modifications, or revisions should be made to the nursing curriculum based on CT test results?" Sixth, "What changes, modifications, or revisions should be made to the CT testing?";The development and evaluation problem solving methodologies were utilized to complete this study. Qualitative evaluation methods and inferential statistics were also used extensively. The inferential statistical analysis included the use of paired samples t tests, one-way ANOVAs, and Pearson product moment correlation statistics.;Recommendations for action included the following: (a) continue CT testing at entry into the first nursing course and at exit during the last nursing course, (b) increase the higher level thinking activities during classroom time, (c) increase the higher level thinking activities during clinical experiences, (d) evaluate the content and instruction students receive related to self-evaluation, (e) continue the annual use of the questionnaire to track longitudinal student responses to changes in the curriculum related to CT, (f) add questions to the graduate nursing survey related to the foundation laid during the nursing program for continued CT improvement during professional practice, and (g) determine the most appropriate time during the spring semester to administer the questionnaire to all nursing students. Other recommendations included (a) continuing the annual statistical and qualitative analysis of questionnaire findings to provide data for continuous quality improvement, (b) replicating this study, (c) determining activities that directly improve the CT attitudes & skills of students through experimental studies, (d) determining the relationships between CT and licensing examination pass rates, and (e) sharing the results and recommendations of this study with the chair of the nursing curriculum committee.