Impact of peer teaching on nursing students: perceptions of learning environment, self-efficacy, and knowledge.

BACKGROUND: Peer teaching has been shown to enhance student learning and levels of self efficacy. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the current study was to examine the impact of peer-teaching learning experiences on nursing students in roles of tutee and tutor in a clinical lab environment. SETTINGS: This study was conducted over a three-semester period at a South Central University that provides baccalaureate nursing education. PARTICIPANTS: Over three semesters, 179 first year nursing students and 51 third year nursing students participated in the study. METHODS: This mixed methods study, through concurrent use of a quantitative intervention design and qualitative survey data, examined differences during three semesters in perceptions of a clinical lab experience, self-efficacy beliefs, and clinical knowledge for two groups: those who received peer teaching-learning in addition to faculty instruction (intervention group) and those who received faculty instruction only (control group). Additionally, peer teachers' perceptions of the peer teaching learning experience were examined. RESULTS: Results indicated positive response from the peer tutors with no statistically significant differences for knowledge acquisition and self-efficacy beliefs between the tutee intervention and control groups. In contrast to previous research, students receiving peer tutoring in conjunction with faculty instruction were statistically more anxious about performing lab skills with their peer tutor than with their instructors. Additionally, some students found instructors' feedback moderately more helpful than their peers and increased gains in knowledge and responsibility for preparation and practice with instructors than with peer tutors. CONCLUSIONS: The findings in this study differ from previous research in that the use of peer tutors did not decrease anxiety in first year students, and no differences were found between the intervention and control groups related to self efficacy or cognitive improvement. These findings may indicate the need to better prepare peer tutors, and research should be conducted using more complex skills.

Facilitators and barriers to success among ethnic minority students enrolled in a predominately white baccalaureate nursing program.

This study identified facilitators and barriers to academic success among ethnic minority students enrolled in a BSN program. The following research questions were asked: What factors (a) facilitate academic performance; (b) are barriers to academic performance; (c) influence the college experience and academic success; (d) within the nursing department, influence academic success; (e) What is the impact of socialization on academic performance; (f) What were facilitators of academic success identified among study participants; and, (g) Which facilitators, identified by subjects, were most common among those participants? A retrospective-descriptive study design consisted of a sample of all minority students who were enrolled in clinical at a baccalaureate nursing program between 2005 and the fall of 2010. Bandura's theory on self-efficacy was used. Loftus and Duty's Survey of Factors Influencing Student Retention and Academic Success was adapted. Data were analyzed using SPSS 19.0 with ANOVA to determine if a significant difference in responses existed.

A descriptive analysis of CRRIC II results: cardiovascular risks of African-American children in Mississippi.

The burgeoning problem of overweight and obesity in US children, adolescents, and adults has reached epidemic proportions. Data from the CRRIC I study conducted in 2000 in Jackson, Mississippi among elementary African-American children indicated that 39% of the boys and 49% of the girls had BMIs at or above the 85th percentile. The current study replicated CRRIC I in a sample of 113 African American Children in the third and fourth grades in the rural town of Canton, Mississippi. Results revealed that 46% of the boys and 46% of the girls had BMI at or above the 85th percentile. Fitness profile results revealed that only 11% of the children were classified as fit, 84% were classified as fair, and 5% were deemed unfit. As in CRRIC I, health histories of grandparents were positive for the comorbities of overweight and obesity: diabetes, stroke, and heart disease. These data indicate a critical need to aggressively intervene to impact the lifestyle choices of this generation.