The effect of verification of perceptions by the nursing student and clinical instructor on the student's perception of teacher effectiveness and self-evaluation of clinical performance

• Main Author: Sando, Carol Renee
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: Ann Arbor ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 1996
• Subjects: Clinics; College students; Curricula; Curriculum development; Effectiveness studies; Health education; health sciences, education; Nursing; Perceptions; Teaching
• ISBN: 9780591202007; 059120200X

The paucity of experimental research on student perceptions of clinical teacher effectiveness was the impetus prompting this multiple-group pretest-posttest repeated measures experiment. Carl Rogers' (1980) theory of experiential learning was the conceptual framework. Hypotheses addressed whether the process of verification of perceptions of effective teacher characteristics between the nursing student and clinical instructor, influenced the student's evaluation of teacher effectiveness and self-evaluation of clinical performance. Verification of perceptions by (1) students, (2) clinical instructors, and (3) both students and clinical instructors, were the respective treatments applied to 3 of the 4 experimental groups. The fourth group was the comparison group.
The sample of 16 schools generated 514 participants; 369 (314 seniors, 55 instructors) completed all phases of data collection. Pretest means for the Characteristics Instrument on Teacher Effectiveness in the Clinical Setting (Reeve, 1994) and the Self-Evaluation of Clinical Performance Analog Scale were covariates for their corresponding posttest scores. Repeated measures data were collected at the midpoint and end of the clinical rotation.
Multivariate analysis of covariance repeated measures procedures were planned but terminated prior to hypothesis testing due to the violation of the assumption of equal variances. This outcome may have resulted from divergent test scores, or possibly the method of random assignment of participants to experimental groups. The reality that baccalaureate seniors are no longer a homogenous group has implications for teaching and learning in nursing.
On the whole, demographic data supported previous research. Descriptive and parametric bivariate analyses were used to interpret data. By comparison, in the experimental group where verification of student perceptions was the treatment, group mean differences were detected, indicating that student perceptions of clinical teacher effectiveness were influenced by the verification process. No group differences were detected regarding the student's self-evaluation of clinical performance. These findings are equivocal relative to Rogers' theory. It is possible that verification, as part of a humanistic student-teacher relationship, is not a fundamental experiential learning principle, or could not be measured adequately with the study's instruments. The diverse nature of today's senior nursing students is a challenge to nursing faculty planning teaching-learning strategies for their clinical groups.