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Abstract
The practice of professional nursing necessitates using critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is a major aim of baccalaureate nursing education. This study was designed to determine if there is a change in the critical thinking skills of nursing students as they progress through their educational process? The independent variables were the type of program and a student's placement in that program. The dependent variables were the student's part-scores on the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA).
It was hypothesized that the scores on the WGCTA would increase in both programs, and that the baccalaureate students would score higher than the associate students. Thirteen National League for Nursing accredited schools participated in the study. The 429 students were from eight baccalaureate, and five associate degree programs. The students completed a questionnaire and the WGCTA. The school administrator was asked to submit program and curriculum information. Factor analysis of the five WGCTA part-scores yielded a two factor solution. Students in both programs showed an increase in the High Cognitive dimension of critical thinking. There was no change over time in the Low Cognitive dimension in either program.
Conclusions drawn from the findings were that traditional nursing educational methods, and the teaching of the nursing process foster logical (Low Cognitive) rather than creative (High Cognitive) thinking. Measurement of these two types of thinking needs better validation. Studies using the WGCTA should consider the factor analysis approach as detailed in this study. In addition, nursing faculty need exposure to theory and methodologies related to critical thinking.
The change in critical thinking during the nursing component of the educational process may be due to experiences inherent in the curricular approaches. Therefore, individual school differences need to be closely examined as potential primary contributors in order to isolate intervening variables.
