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Copyright eContent Management Pty Ltd. Contemporary Nurse (2008) 29: 100109.
Key Words
critical thinking;
learning styles;
nursing;
student; Korea
The purpose of this study is to examine the critical thinking dispositions and
learning styles, as well as the relationships between critical thinking and learning styles of nursing students enrolled in Baccalaureate nursing programs in
Korea.The convenient sample consisted of 724 students from five cities.The
learning style inventory of Kolb (1976) and critical thinking disposition inventory of Rudd et al (2000) were used for collecting data. Learning styles of the
subjects were Diverging 315 (43.5%), Accommodating 223 (30.4%), Assimilating 78 (10.8%), and Converging 65 (9.0%). There were no significant
differences in learning styles among grades (p=.197). The level of critical
thinking significantly differed among learning styles (p=.000), and grades
(p=.043). Critical thinking positively related to learning styles (r=.219) and
grades (r=.097).This study suggested that adopting Abstract Conceptualization
and Active Experimentation modes of pedagogy may promote critical thinking.
Received 27 June 2007
Assistant Professor
Department of Nursing
Catholic University
of Daegu
Namgu, Daegu, Korea
Assistant Professor
Department of Nursing
Catholic University
of Daegu
Namgu, Daegu, Korea
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GYEONG JU AN
INTRODUCTION
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Learning styles are accentuated through education and experience. Kolb (1976) also believes
learning is influenced by heredity, previous
experiences, and present everyday demand.
People may tend to prefer one learning style to
another, this may limit learning potential.Therefore people should be made aware of the need
to broaden their styles and be encouraged to
utilize learning environments that may not
immediately suit their preferred learning styles.
To assist in enhancing the learning experience,
the predominant learning style of particular student groups must be identified.
Critical thinking has been called one of the
most important attributes for success in the 21st
century and has been defined as the process of
reasonably deciding what to believe and do
(Lauder & James 2001). Critical thinking has
conceptual connections with reflective judgment, problem framing, higher order thinking,
logical thinking, decision-making, problem solving and the scientific method (Giancarlo &
Facione 2001). An ideal critical thinker is habitually inquisitive, well-informed, trustful of
reason, open-minded, flexible, fair-minded in
evaluation, honest in facing personal biases, prudent in making judgments, willing to reconsider, clear about issues, orderly in complex
matters, diligent in seeking relevant information, reasonable in the selection of criteria,
focused in inquiry, and persistent in seeking
results which are as precise as the subject and
the circumstances of inquiry permit (Coker
2000). Critical thinking dispositions, also known
as mental habits, are attitudinal in nature,
developed over time and are influenced by the
environment, social norms, peers and significant
adults, and are difficult to change in the shortterm (Irani et al 2004). Simply put, if there is no
disposition toward critical thinking, then critical
thinking will not take place, regardless of the
presence or absence of the necessary skills.
Critical thinking has been considered as
reflective thinking that is focused upon deciding
what to believe or do (Norris & Ennis 1990).To
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METHODS
Design
This study was a descriptive correlational study.
Sample
A convenience sample (n=742) of students in
the four-year Baccalaureate nursing program in
five universities was taken.The five universities
were in five metropolitan cities (Seoul, Busan,
Daegu, Daejeon and Gwangju). A total of 768
questionnaires were collected, however 44 questionnaires were excluded from analysis due to
missing data.The final sample consisted of 742
students, all of whom were studying full-time
and of whom 97% were female. Of the sample,
19.4% (n=144) were in 1st grade, 29.6% (n=
220) were in 2nd grade 220(29.6%), 24.7%
(n=183) were in 3rd grade 183(24.7%), and
23.8% (n=177) were in 4th grade.
Instruments
The instruments were translated and retranslated by the two nursing professors involved in
this study. One translated forward and the other
translated back to ensure that the words were as
accurate as possible.
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Procedure
The questionnaires were administered to each
student in class.The questionnaire package contained a consent form, a participant information
sheet, learning style inventory and critical thinking disposition inventory. The participant inVolume 29, Issue 1, May 2008
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Statistical analysis
Descriptive statistics including frequency, mean,
and standard deviation were calculated.To identify the differences in learning styles and critical
thinking one-way ANOVA with the Scheffe
post-hoc analysis for assessing group differences
was used.The Spearman rank difference correlation measurement was used to analyze relationships between critical thinking disposition
and learning style.
RESULTS
Differences of learning styles
related to grades
The subjects ranged in age from 17 to 35 years
(mean=20.84, SD=1.76). As shown in Table 1,
learning styles of the subjects were diverging
315 (43.5%), Most of the subjects used a
diverging (43.5%) or accommodating learning
style (30.4%).The diverging style was the most
common learning style for all but the fourth
year students, who mostly commonly used an
TABLE 1: DIFFERENCES
Grades
1st grade
2nd grade
3rd grade
4th grade
Total
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Diverger
Assimilator
Accommodator
Converger
63(43.7)
108(49.1)
72(39.3)
72(40.7)
16(11.1)
25(11.4)
25(13.7)
12( 6.8)
55(38.2)
66(30.0)
69(37.7)
76(42.9)
10( 7.0)
21( 9.5)
17( 9.3)
17( 9.6)
12.296
.197
315(43.5)
78(10.8)
266(36.7)
65( 9.0)
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Engagement
Learning
styles
Grades
abcd
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Maturity
Innovation
Critical thinking
Diverging (N=315)
Assimilating (N=78)
Accommodating (N=266)
Converging (N=65)
31.164.57abc
33.625.43a
33.035.43bd
35.604.77cd
24.492.83
25.512.71
24.632.91
25.363.23
19.452.95abc
20.873.23a
20.222.99bd
21.802.85cd
75.118.06abc
80.019.74a
77.898.94bd
82.768.96cd
F (p)
18.986(.000)*
3.722(.011)*
13.867(.000)*
18.243(.000)*
31.654.78a
32.245.22
32.774.80
33.285.22a
24.572.81
24.703.03
24.592.82
25.052.91
19.663.09
20.343.13
19.842.88
20.413.10
75.898.83a
77.309.30
77.218.24
78.759.24a
F (p)
3.163(.024)*
.984(.400)
2.470(.061)
2.736(.043)*
erated. As can be seen in Table 3, critical think- observation. Diverging learners are sensitive
ing was weakly and positively related to learning and emotional, with an ability to understand
people and recognise problems. Accommodatstyles (r=0.219) and grades (r=0.097).
ing learners emphasise concrete experience and
TABLE 3: CORRELATIONS AMONG GRADES,
active experimentation; they are involved in
LEARNING STYLES , AND CRITICAL THINKING
new experiences and often carry out plans.
Learning Critical
Grades
styles
thinking They seek opportunities, take risks and often
adapt to changing immediate circumstances.
Grades
1
Accommodating learners also prefer to work
Learning styles
.062(.095)
1
with others, which is especially important for
Critical thinking .097(.009)* .219(.000)*
1
effectively communicating with patients, family,
*p<.05
and medical staff in the profession.
However diverging and accommodating students are called concrete learners. In this study
DISCUSSION
the percentage of concrete learners was 80.2%,
Differences of learning styles
compared to the lower percentage of concrete
related to grades
learners (53.7%) reported by Cavanagh, Hogan
The results of this study have been useful in and Ramgopal (1995). Allowing for the needs of
understanding the range of different learning concrete learners could only lead to enhanced
styles that exist among Korean nursing stu- learning potential from any educational exdents. This study found that the predominant perience. Concrete learners tend to choose
learning styles were accommodating and diverg- people-oriented professions (Laschinger 1992).
ing, with lower numbers of students utilising An individual who displays an orientation
assimilating or converging styles of learning. toward concrete experience emphasises feelings
These findings are similar to those of Lashinger as opposed to thinking, often making for good
(1992), Stutsky and Lashinger (1995), and Rid- intuitive decision-making.Those with an orientation toward reflective observation focus on
ley, Laschinger and Goldenberd (1995).
As depicted in Figure 1, diverging learners understanding the meaning of ideas and situaemphasise concrete experience and reflective tions by carefully observing and impartially
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CONCLUSION
The learning styles of undergraduate nursing
students in Korea were mainly diverging and
accommodating. Baccalaureate programs should
be structured to enhance learning by assisting
and motivating learners to understand, and
solve problems appropriate to their own learning styles.These results suggest that transferring
to AC and AE modes can change learning style
and then promote critical thinking. It is important that nursing educators develop a curriculum and classroom techniques that foster
critical thinking and enable graduates to meet
the complicated needs of patients and establish a
scientific nursing process.
LIMITATIONS
In this study although all five schools were fouryear Baccalaureate nursing program, these
schools each have different curriculums and
learning environments.Therefore nursing educational curriculums and learning environments
may exert an influence on the students.
References
An GJ (2007) Learning styles and preferred
learning methods of undergraduate nursing
students, Journal of Korean Academy Society for
Nursing Education 13(1): 1322.
Banta TW (1993) Toward a plan for using
national assessment to ensure continuous
improvement of higher education, Journal of
General Education 42: 3358.
Volume 29, Issue 1, May 2008
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C A L L F O R PA P E R S
USING VIDEO
IN
SOCIAL SCIENCES
AND
H E A LT H R E S E A R C H
Special issue of International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches, volume 3 issue 2, June 2009
Advisory editors: Rick Iedema, University of Technology, Sydney; Christian Heath, Kings College, London;
and Alexandra Juhasz, Pitzer College, Claremont CA, USA
Guest editors: Rowena Forsyth, University of New South Wales; Katherine Carroll, University of Technology,
Sydney; and Paul Reitano, University of New England, Australia
This special issue draws together researchers from a range of health (including medicine, nursing, psychology
and counselling) and social science (including management, education, legal and social work) disciplines to
present a range of methodological and ethical issues that influence the way video is utilised as an innovative
methodology, and the data and research outcomes that result from it.
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