Achievement and Satisfaction of Nursing Students Studying Newborn Nursing Care by Using VARK Learning Style

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of VARK learning style toward achievement  and satisfaction of nursing students who were studying newborn nursing care. It was conducted as a quasi experimental, one-group pre-test - post-test research. The subjects were 157 second-year nursing students of academic year 2013 at Boromarajonani College of Nursing, Buddhachinnaraj, enrolled in the class on nursing care for persons with health problems. The study process was consisted of the VARK lesson plan (a sensory approache comprising of visual, aural, reading/writing, and kinesthetic), power point presentation and multiple choice tests (reliability 0.74), and the satisfaction questionnaire (reliability 0.93). Data were analyzed by using mean, frequency, percentage, standard deviation, and t-test. It was found that, with this learning approach, the nursing students’ learning achievement scores were significantly higher than those before teaching (p<0.5). The satisfaction scores were also at high level with regard to teachers, teaching methods, learning environment and students’ performance as well as the overall satisfaction scores (mean = 4.40, SD = 0.56).