Abstract
Knowledge that can be transferred into the clinical arena is crucial in a practice profession. High-road, mindful learning using teaching methods that actively engage students and increase their cognitive flexibility is highly desirable. This study aspired to add to the knowledge regarding how or if cases can assist in the preparation of nurses who can analyze complex situations and transfer classroom learning into a clinical setting. The over-arching question that framed this study was: Does use of clinical cases in case-method instruction (CMI) enhance a nursing student's ability to analyze complex cases critically and increase transfer into real-world contexts? A noncomparative qualitative case study research design was used. Participants were senior level nursing Bachelor of Science Nursing (BSN) students who were enrolled in a high acuity (basic critical care) nursing course in the final semester of their nursing program. A variety of data sources were employed, including: existing documents, questionnaires, observation, interviews, and participant case analysis products. Data collection and analysis were iterative, inductive processes. Content analysis was a major analytic method used throughout the study. Study findings include: (1) in real-world contexts transfer is often imperfect in the novice nurse; (2) in real-world contexts there may be measurable degrees of quality of transfer; (3) there may be identifiable errors in imperfect transfer (for example, errors of omission, fact-understanding, application, and reasoning); and (4) CMI may enhance advanced thinking skills (ATS) in clinical settings.
Sigma Membership
Non-member
Type
Dissertation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Non-Comparative
Research Approach
Qualitative Research
Keywords:
Case Method Instruction, Case Analysis, Learning Transfer, Cognitive Flexibility, Nursing Education
Advisor
Joan Mazur
Second Advisor
Gary Anglin
Third Advisor
Douglas Smith
Fourth Advisor
Fred Danner
Degree
Doctoral-Other
Degree Grantor
University of Kentucky
Degree Year
2006
Recommended Citation
Wagner, Kathleen Dorman, "An inquiry into the use of the case method instruction to support nursing students learning transfer from classroom instruction to clinical practice" (2022). Dissertations. 1574.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/dissertations/1574
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.
All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
None: Degree-based Submission
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2022-02-14
Full Text of Presentation
wf_yes
Description
This dissertation has also been disseminated through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Dissertation/thesis number: 3259206; ProQuest document ID: 305316774. The author still retains copyright.