Fear and Loathing: Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Experiences of a Mandatory Course in Applied Statistics
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Brad Hagen
,
Oluwagbohunmi A. Awosoga
Abstract
This article describes the results of a qualitative research study evaluating nursing students’ experiences of a mandatory course in applied statistics, and the perceived effectiveness of teaching methods implemented during the course. Fifteen nursing students in the third year of a four-year baccalaureate program in nursing participated in focus groups before and after taking the mandatory course in statistics. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using content analysis to reveal four major themes: (i) “one of those courses you throw out?,” (ii) “numbers and terrifying equations,” (iii) “first aid for statistics casualties,” and (iv) “re-thinking curriculum.” Overall, the data revealed that although nursing students initially enter statistics courses with considerable skepticism, fear, and anxiety, there are a number of concrete actions statistics instructors can take to reduce student fear and increase the perceived relevance of courses in statistics.
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©2013 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin / Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Masthead
- Cultural Competence and Cultural Safety in Canadian Schools of Nursing: A Mixed Methods Study
- Education Reforms in Nigeria: How Responsive is the Nursing Profession?
- Writing History: Case Study of the University of Victoria School of Nursing
- Fear and Loathing: Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Experiences of a Mandatory Course in Applied Statistics
- How does the Nurse Educator Measure Caring?
- Psychometric Properties of the Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric
- Arts-Based Learning: Analysis of the Concept for Nursing Education
- Critical Service Learning in Community Health Nursing: Enhancing Access to Cardiac Health Screening
- Collaborative Learning Using Nursing Student Dyads in the Clinical Setting
- The Effect of Social Contingencies on Nursing Students’ Reactions During a Rural Clinical Placement
- Voices of Innovation: Building a Model for Curriculum Transformation
- Bridging the Gap: Clinical Practice Nursing and the Effect of Role Strain on Successful Role Transition and Intent to Stay in Academia
- Resisting, Reaching Out and Re-imagining to Independence: LPN’s Transitioning towards BNs and Beyond
- Exploring the Issue of Failure to Fail in a Nursing Program
- Inclusive Mosaic: Promoting Diversity in Nursing through Youth Mentorship
- Interactive Learning Research: Application of Cognitive Load Theory to Nursing Education
- The Relevance of Indigenous Knowledge for Nursing Curriculum
- The Value of Community-Focused Interprofessional Care in Peru for Developing Cultural Competency in Health Professions Students
- Female Arab-Muslim Nursing Students’ Reentry Transitions
- High Fidelity Simulation Effectiveness in Nursing Students’ Transfer of Learning
- Communities of Practice in Nursing Academia: A Growing Need to Practice What We Teach
- Nurse Educators’ Perspectives on Student Development of Reflection for Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Practice
- The Emerging Doctor of Education (EdD) in Instructional Leadership for Nurse Educators
- Five Years Later: Are Accelerated, Second-Degree Program Graduates Still in the Workforce?
- Knowledge and Perceptions of HIV/AIDS among Cameroonian Nursing Students
- Educating Nurses for the Twenty-First Century Abilities-Based Outcomes and Assessing Student Learning in the Context of Democratic Professionalism
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Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Masthead
- Cultural Competence and Cultural Safety in Canadian Schools of Nursing: A Mixed Methods Study
- Education Reforms in Nigeria: How Responsive is the Nursing Profession?
- Writing History: Case Study of the University of Victoria School of Nursing
- Fear and Loathing: Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Experiences of a Mandatory Course in Applied Statistics
- How does the Nurse Educator Measure Caring?
- Psychometric Properties of the Lasater Clinical Judgment Rubric
- Arts-Based Learning: Analysis of the Concept for Nursing Education
- Critical Service Learning in Community Health Nursing: Enhancing Access to Cardiac Health Screening
- Collaborative Learning Using Nursing Student Dyads in the Clinical Setting
- The Effect of Social Contingencies on Nursing Students’ Reactions During a Rural Clinical Placement
- Voices of Innovation: Building a Model for Curriculum Transformation
- Bridging the Gap: Clinical Practice Nursing and the Effect of Role Strain on Successful Role Transition and Intent to Stay in Academia
- Resisting, Reaching Out and Re-imagining to Independence: LPN’s Transitioning towards BNs and Beyond
- Exploring the Issue of Failure to Fail in a Nursing Program
- Inclusive Mosaic: Promoting Diversity in Nursing through Youth Mentorship
- Interactive Learning Research: Application of Cognitive Load Theory to Nursing Education
- The Relevance of Indigenous Knowledge for Nursing Curriculum
- The Value of Community-Focused Interprofessional Care in Peru for Developing Cultural Competency in Health Professions Students
- Female Arab-Muslim Nursing Students’ Reentry Transitions
- High Fidelity Simulation Effectiveness in Nursing Students’ Transfer of Learning
- Communities of Practice in Nursing Academia: A Growing Need to Practice What We Teach
- Nurse Educators’ Perspectives on Student Development of Reflection for Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Practice
- The Emerging Doctor of Education (EdD) in Instructional Leadership for Nurse Educators
- Five Years Later: Are Accelerated, Second-Degree Program Graduates Still in the Workforce?
- Knowledge and Perceptions of HIV/AIDS among Cameroonian Nursing Students
- Educating Nurses for the Twenty-First Century Abilities-Based Outcomes and Assessing Student Learning in the Context of Democratic Professionalism
- In Real Time: Exploring Nursing Students’ Learning during an International Experience
- Educating DNP Students about Critical Appraisal and Knowledge Translation
- 5-Years Later – Have Faculty Integrated Medical Genetics into Nurse Practitioner Curriculum?
- Stress, Depression, and Anxiety among Undergraduate Nursing Students
- Knowing Self and Caring Through Service Learning
- Teaching Experiences of Second Degree Accelerated Baccalaureate Nursing Faculty
- Reading Ella: Using Literary Patients to Enhance Nursing Students’ Reflective Thinking in the Classroom
- Accelerated Baccalaureate Nursing Students Use of Emotional Intelligence in Nursing as “Caring for a Human Being”: A Mixed Methods Grounded Theory Study
- Effective Classroom Teaching Methods: A Critical Incident Technique from Millennial Nursing Students’ Perspective
- Simulation Education Approaches to Enhance Collaborative Healthcare: A Best Practices Review
- Erratum to 5-Years Later – Have Faculty Integrated Medical Genetics into Nurse Practitioner Curriculum?
