Effects of instructional strategies on intrinsic motivation and meaningful learning of senior nursing students

The National League of Nursing (NLN) is an organization strongly supportive current nursing educational practices and trends issued a position statement recently: “Without adequate research to underlie changes that need to be made in the curriculum design, teaching/learning strategies and other components of the nursing educational experience, faculty may implement approaches that fail to adequately prepare graduates for practice in the fast paced, ever changing, unpredictable, ambiguous healthcare world” (NLN, 2003).

The purpose of the study was to utilize quantitative and qualitative approaches to investigate effects of innovative instructional strategies on nursing students’ intrinsic motivation and meaningful learning. With the quasi-experimental design, senior nursing students enrolled in different semesters of the same course were assigned to an experimental group where the innovative instructional strategies that emphasized small, cooperative learning groups, case studies and faculty guided group discussion and a control group where the course was taught in a traditional way. Instructional materials and assignments were equalized as much as possible between the two groups of students. Effects of the treatment were measured by and compared with student cognitive outcomes as measured by their performance on course tests and their affective outcomes measured by an instrument developed and piloted by the researcher. The qualitative study was performed to obtain a deeper understanding of the student experience. A purposeful sample of seven students from the experimental condition was asked to serve as participants of the qualitative study. Qualitative data were collected through three methods: reflective journals, a conclusion interview, and field notes of observation of implementation in the classroom. Data collected was utilized to identify themes of participants’ perception of effects of additional instructional methods on participant intrinsic motivation and meaningful learning.

The outcome of the study was positive. The quantitative data analysis revealed the innovative instructional strategies positively affected student learning outcomes, both cognitively and affectively. The qualitative data analysis revealed themes supporting instructional strategies enhanced intrinsic motivation, meaningful learning, and improved content retention. Applications of the study in nursing education were discussed