Gender Differences in Psychological Safety, Academic Safety, Cognitive Load, and Debriefing Satisfaction in Simulation-Based Learning

Abstract

Background: As there is an increasing trend in the number of male-identifying learners in undergraduate nursing education, a need exists to identify the gender differences in learners' perceptions regarding simulation-based learning. Purpose: This study aimed to identify the gender differences in psychological safety, academic safety, cognitive load, and debriefing satisfaction in simulation-based nursing education. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive survey was implemented with 97 female and 95 male nursing students. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U tests or independent-samples t tests. Results: Female nursing students reported a lower academic safety and higher intrinsic load than male nursing students. Male nursing students perceived a higher germane load than female nursing students. Conclusions: The significance of the present study was the identification of gender differences in participant perception of the simulation learning experience for effective simulation design.

Psychological safety during a large-scale simulation-based learning event

“…This is done by encouraging learning behaviours, such as asking questions, voicing concerns, freely sharing ideas, and asking for help (Park & Kim, 2021a). Literature suggests that these learning behaviours can only be guaranteed if the student feels psychologically safe (Lyman & Mendon, 2021;Roh, Jang & Issenberg, 2022). PS seems to form part of a hidden curriculum within health education and is a relatively unknown concept to many clinical educators, trainees, and facilitators (Torralba et al, 2020).…”

“…As an SBL facilitator, the goal is to avoid PS barriers that reduce learning. Previous research indicates that students experience negative psychological states such as stress and anxiety when they are afraid of making mistakes (Kang & Min, 2019), are afraid to perform in front of peers and facilitators (Rudolph et al, 2014), worry about negative critique from peers and facilitators (Roh et al, 2022), and when they are placed in unfamiliar SBL environments (Kang & Min, 2019). These issues will result in a reduced willingness to learn and perform well (Park & Kim, 2021b).…”