Concept mapping strategy: An effective tool for improving maternity nursing students’ achievement

Abstract

Background: One of the duties of the educational system is to train nursing students to possess critical and creative thinking and have the ability of problem solving, those who do not accumulate information and knowledge regarding the maternity field that will be quickly outdated. As well, these criteria need to be provided in maternity nursing, to be able to achieve the mother and neonate safety. Concept map is one of the teaching strategies that can overcome this challenge. Aim of the study: To evaluate the effect of concept mapping strategy for improving maternity nursing students' achievement. Methods: Design: A quasi-experimental study design was used to conduct the study. Setting: The study was conducted at the Maternity and Neonatal Health Nursing Department (third year students), in the Faculty of Nursing, Fayoum University. Subjects and Methods: A total of 125 students, all the students enrolled in the academic years 2014/2015. The students in the first term were the control group (65) and subjected to traditional method of teaching; and students in second term were the study group (60) subjected to concept map strategy. Tools used to collect the data were: 1) Sociodemographic characteristic: A structured interviewing questionnaire, 2) Pre/posttest to assess student's (study group) knowledge regarding concept mapping, 3) Student's achievement test (midterm & final exam), 4) Rubric for assessing concept maps, and 5) Likert scale to assess the attitude of students toward the teaching strategy. Results: There was a statistically significant difference regarding concept map knowledge pre and after awareness sessions among the study group. As well, there was a significant difference between both groups regarding the students' achievement (midterm & final exam). In addition the students in the study group exhibit positive attitude regarding the teaching strategy (concept map) more than the students in the control group (traditional method). Conclusions: Concept mapping significantly enhanced the students' achievement in the maternity nursing during the pregnancy course.

Effect of concept mapping on problem solving skills, competence in clinical setting and knowledge among undergraduate nursing students

“…• Good > 75% of the total score • Fair ≥ 60%-75% of the total score • Poor < 60% of the total score Tool (II): Case study rubric for assessing concept map Rubric for assessing case study of concept was developed by McMurray [25] and Farrag et al [26][27][28][29] and modified by the researchers, it was used to evaluate the application of students' concept mapping in the clinical setting immediately, after two weeks and one month during follow up. It consisted of 6 statements that cover following points: arrangement of concept, links and linking line, hierarchical structure, content, depth of coverage and design.…”

The Outcomes of Integrating Concept Mapping in Nursing Education: An Integrative Review

“…ideas to their cognitive scaffold [31]. Also, Atay and Karabacak [16] and Trevisani et al [29] found that their students were construct concept maps with new connections and ideas, and they were able to expand their experiences by relating new knowledge with previously learned which is imperative to keep the continuity of nursing education.…”

“…Organizing students' theoretical material and enabling them to think compre- In general, many intellectual abilities such as construction, analysis, inferences as well as meta-cognitive skills might be fostered by concept mapping [16]. Results imply that concept mapping enhanced students' higher ordered cognitive skills, which mean that nursing instructors should not use traditional lectures as the sole method of teaching because as it might hamper students' creativity (Jaafarpour, Aazami and Mozafari, 2016; Chen, et al, 2011).…”

“…Concept mapping has the following advantages: it is interactive; it is a valuable visual tool; it is applicable in different educational settings (regular classrooms and clinical areas); it uses many cognitive processes and abilities, and it is very helpful to understand students' learning behaviors [16] [17] [18]. Some studies revealed that concept mapping might positively affect students' critical thinking, emotional intelligence, knowledge acquisition, study engagement, and study Recently, several authors have argued against the effectiveness and usefulness of current passive teaching methods in the nursing context [21].…”

Using Mind Mapping to Identify Research Topics: A Lesson for Teaching Research Methods

“…In nursing education, for example, concept mapping was used successfully to develop critical thinking skills (Ab Latif et al, 2016; Wheeler & Collins, 2003), improve test scores (Farrag, 2016), foster clinical judgement skills (Kaddoura, VanDyke, Cheng, & Shea-Foisy, 2016), and enhance reasoning skills (Schooley, 2015). A review of 65 studies of the use of mapping as a learning strategy in health professions education found that its use supported meaningful learning, particularly when it was used in conjunction with other learning strategies, such a collaborative learning or instructor feedback (Pudelko, Young, Vincent-Lamarre, & Charlin, 2012).…”