RELATIVE INFLUENCE OF NOTE TAKING AND GROUP DISCUSSION STUDY METHODS ON NURSING STUDENTS PERFORMANCE ON A TEST

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE:    .           .           .           .           .           .           .            i

APPROVAL PAGE ….        .           .           .           .           .           .           ii

CERTIFICATION:    .        .           .           .           .           .           .           iii

DEDICATION:        .           .           .           .           .           .           .           iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:    .             .           .           .           .           .           v

TABLE OF CONTENTS:     .           .           .           .           .           .           vi

LIST OF TABLES:    .        .           .           .           .           .           .           ix

ABSTRACT:  .         .           .           .           .           .           .           xi

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study:           .           .           .           .           .           1

Statement of Problem:     .           .           .           .           .           .           .           2

Purpose of the Study: .              .           .           .           .           .           4

Significance of Study:              .           .           .           .           .           .           4

Scope of the Study:    .      .           .           .           .           .           .           5

Research Questions:    .           .           .           .           .           .           .           5

Hypotheses:    .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .           6

Operational Definition of Terms:              .           .           .           .           7

Studying and Learning:          .    .           .           .           .           .           22

The Concept of Note Taking: .              .           .           .           .           24

Types of Note Taking:       .           .           .           .           .           .           26

Techniques of Note Taking:        .           .           .           .           .           27

Note taking as a Study Habit:       .           .           .           .           29

Importance of Note Taking as a tool to Facilitate Learning:   .           .           30

Group Discussion as a Study Habit:   .           .           .           .           .           32

The Conceptual Model for the Study:              .           .           .           .           .           33

Empirical Review:       .           .           .           .     .           .           .           3

Theoretical Review:    .           .           .           .   

Summary of Literature Review:              .           .           .           .           .           40

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Design:              .           .           .           .           .           .           41

Area of the Study:            .           .           .           .           .           .           41

Population for the Study:              .           .           .           .           .           41

Sample:            .           .           .           .           .           .           .           43

Sampling Procedure:   .         .           .           .           .           .           43

Instrument for Data Collection:            .           .           .           .           44

Validity of the Instrument:     .           .           .         .           .           .           45

Reliability of the Instrument:  .                 .           .           .           .           .           46

Ethical Clearance:       .       .           .           .           .           .           .           46

Procedure for Data Collection:           .           .           .           .           .           46

Control of Extraneous Variables:             .           .           .           .           47

Method of Data Analysis:   .           .           .           .           .           .           50  

CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION OF RESULTS OF DATA ANALYSIS                                              

Similarity of Groups:  .             .           .           .           .           .           51

Effects of Experimental Manipulation on Academic performance: .           .           52

Students Performance for the Treatment Groups Based on Sex:   .           .           56

Students Performance for the Treatment Groups Based on Mental Ability: .           .           59

Summary of Findings:           .           .           .           .           .           62

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

Peculiarity of the Study:             .           .           .           .           .           65

Discussion of Major Findings:                 .           .           .           .           66

Limitations of the Study:        .     .           .           .           .           .           72

Suggestion for Further Studies:           .           .           .           .           72

Summary:        .            .           .           .           .           73

Conclusion:     .          .           .           .           .           .           .           73

Recommendations:     .             .           .           .           .           .           74

References

Appendix

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1             Similarity of Groups           .           .           .           51

Table 2:           Unadjusted and Adjusted means of pre-test and post-test

Scores for treatment and control groups.        .           .           .           .           52

Table 3:           3-way analysis of Covariance on adjusted means of post-test scores based on treatment, sex and mental ability levels. .           53

Table 4.           Multiple t-test analysis of the adjusted post-test scores for students in the note taking group and control group         .           .           54

Table 5            Multiple t-test comparison of students in the Group discussion method and control group.                 .           .           .           54

Table 6:           Multiple t – test comparison of adjusted means of post-test Scores for Students in Note Taking method and Group Discussion method.     .           55

Table 7:           Unadjusted and Adjusted mean scores for Male and Female Students in the Note Taking Group. . .           .           .           .    .    .     .  .    56

Table 8:          Analysis of covariance on adjusted means for male and female students in note taking group.   .            .           .  .  .  .  .   .  .    56

Table 9:           t-test comparison of adjusted means of post-test scores for male and female students in note taking training group    .           56

Table 10:         Unadjusted and adjusted mean scores for male and female Students in the group discussion method. .         .           .           57

Table 11:         Analysis of covariance on adjusted mean for male and female  in the group discussion method.         .           .           .           .           .           57

Table 12:         t-test comparison of adjusted means of post-test scores for male and female in the group discussion method. .      .  .  .  .  .  .  .     58

Table 13:         Unadjusted and adjusted mean scores for students with high mental ability and subjects with low mental ability in note taking groups.. .  .  .      59

Table 14:         Analysis of covariance on adjusted mean for subjects with High mental ability and students with low mental ability in note taking group. . .           59

Table 15:         t-Test comparison of a adjusted means of post-test scores for High Mental ability and low mental ability students in note taking group    60

Table 16:         Unadjusted and adjusted mean scores for students with high Mental ability and subjects with low mental ability in group Discussion method.     61

Table 17:         Analysis of covariance on adjusted mean for subjects with high mental ability and students with low mental ability in group discussion method.     61

Table 18:         t-test comparison of a adjusted means of post-test scores for high mental ability and low mental ability students in discussion method 61

ABSTRACT

The study investigated the relative influence of note taking and group discussion method through experimental manipulations. The main objective of this study is to verify the relative influence of two study methods (note-taking and group discussion) on performance of student nurses on a test. A 3 x 2 x 2 factorial design was adopted for the study. The sample consisted of 96 students who were randomly selected from three experimental conditions (of 32 students from each school). Two of the groups were subjected to experimental manipulation while the third served as control group for the study. Training on note taking skill and group discussion study skill were given to the two experimental groups. The two experimental groups were again subjected to learning and using either of the two study methods exclusively for preparation for an examination that took place one week after the lectures and trainings. An examination on personal and environmental hygiene test was conducted to assess performance changes brought about by experimental manipulation. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and student’s t-test was used in order to test the eight hypotheses formulated for the study. Based on the principal findings that: The two study skills had influences on the students performance and that note taking group performance was significantly better than the discussion group recommendations were given. It was recommended that the teaching of study methods be included in the primary and secondary school curriculum to capture student during their formative years.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Academic performance is the index used to determine how well educational objectives have been achieved. Education has been seen as the process of helping an individual to discover, develop and make use of his inner abilities, potentials and capabilities for successful living in the society. In this process, it is academic performance of individual that is used to infer academic success or failure (Seidler, 2007).

According to Dewey (2005), learning is intelligent development of all the possibilities inherent in experience. The ability to acquire and utilize these experiences he termed learning. The ability for effective learning can be improved upon through different ways and anything that can improve learning can improve academic performance.

Recent findings as presented by Nwabuisi (2004) and Selye (2004) have shown that there is only a thin line between learning outcome and study habits or methods. Good study method they said is a prerequisite for achieving academic excellence. Different people use different approaches during studying to achieve academic excellence. Dewey (2005) identified and outlined different study methods to include note taking while reading, organization of discussions groups or reading buddies, memorising, reading through and reciting.

These study methods have been used by students over decades. Several researchers (Ash and Carlton, 2003, Fisher, 2006, Udayton, 2008,) carried out surveys to determine the different study habits of students. From each of these surveys, 50% of the respondents prefer group discussion and 40% uses note taking while studying, and 10% do not have definite styles of studying .This goes to show group discussion and note taking as mostly used study styles.

The prime place of good study habit on academic performance among students cannot be under-estimated. Note is the students’ closest companion. It is the most readily available cue to the memory in the educational enterprise. Note taking is very much an integral part of the learning process; it converts the art of reading to the art of studying. It has been identified by many authors including Rimum and Master (2006); Coleman (2003); and Nweze (2004), as a means of achieving recall, reconstruction and utilization of learnt materials.

Group discussion method is a very helpful study style for some students. It is a round table tutorial class in which ideas, views and impressions are shared among the group. This also creates an avenue for problems on a particular subject to be solved collectively within the group.

Teachers, parents and counsellors over the years have been advising students to engage in one or two of these study styles in a bid to help them pass their examinations without sound basis. This work therefore seeks to ascertain the relative influence of the two study methods on academic performance of student nurses.

There is scanty of literature in nursing education in nursing students’ study habit and influence in their academic performance.  The present study will fill the gap in knowledge.

Statement of Problem