Current Status And Correlation Between Self-directed Learning Ability And Critical Thinking Ability Of Nursing Students At Different Levels

Objective: To investigate and analyze the current status and influencing factors of selfdirected learning ability of master’s nursing students and undergraduate nursing students in Liaoning Province,and to explore the correlation between self-directed learning ability and critical thinking ability.It is intended to provide theoretical support to nursing educators in developing educational teaching strategies to enhance the self-directed learning ability of master’s and undergraduate nursing students,and then to achieve the aims of developing life-long learning habits of nursing students,timely updating the professional knowledge,and improving the quality of nursing services.Methods: This study was a descriptive study.From May 2022 to July 2022,a questionnaire survey was conducted among 5 Nursing Colleges in Liaoning Province using convenient sampling.The research tools include General Information Questionnaire,Self-directed Learning Inventory for Nursing Students(SDLI)and Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory — Chinese version(CTDI-CV).Excel 2016 for data entry and SPSS 27.0 for data analysis.The counting data was described by frequency and percentage;The measured data were described by mean ± standard deviation;Single factor analysis was used to analyze the influence of general data on autonomous learning ability.Pearson correlation test was used to analyze the correlation between independent learning ability and critical thinking ability of nursing students from 2 levels;The multiple stepwise regression method was used to carry out multiple linear regression analysis on the statistically significant variables in single factor analysis and correlation analysis to further clarify the influencing factors of nursing students’ autonomous learning ability;Set inspection level α= 0.05,P<0.05 is statistically significant.Results: 1.Status quo of self-directed learning ability and critical thinking ability of nursing students: the total score of SDLI of 191 nursing master students was(73.71 ±11.01),and the total score of CTDI-CV was(279.53 ± 29.09);The total SDLI score of 449 undergraduate nursing students was(71.56 ± 12.01),and the total CTDI-CV score was(271.90 ± 30.43).2.Correlation analysis of critical thinking ability score and self-directed learning ability score: the total score of CTDI-CV of nursing master students was positively correlated with the total score of SDLI(r=0.609);The scores of the 7 dimensions of CTDI-CV were positively correlated with the total score of SDLI,(r=0.282～0.507);The scores of the 4dimensions of SDLI were positively correlated with the total score of CTDI-CV,(r=0.464～0.576);There was a positive correlation between the seven dimensions of CTDICV and the 4 dimensions of SDLI,(r=0.212～0.477).The total score of CTDI-CV of undergraduate nursing students was positively correlated with the total score of SDLI(r=0.470);The scores of the 7 dimensions of CTDI-CV are positively correlated with the total score of SDLI,(r=0.181～0.452);The scores of the 4 dimensions of SDLI were positively correlated with the total score of CTDI-CV,(r =0.355～0.478);There was a positive correlation between the 7 dimensions of CTDI-CV and the 4 dimensions of SDLI,(r=0.101～0.436).3.Analysis of factors influencing the self-directed learning ability of nursing students.(1)Results of univariate analysis: the scores of nursing master’s students’ self-directed learning ability in 7 factors including grade level,undergraduate admission mode,preference for nursing profession,frequency of participating in group study,scientific research experience,degree of difficulty in nursing learning and the degree of resources received in study were statistically significant(P < 0.05);however,the differences of undergraduate students’ self-directed learning ability scores in 5 variables of the obtained degree of learning resources,love for nursing profession,frequency of participating in group study,and scientific research experience were statistically significant(P < 0.05).(2)Results of multivariate analysis: there were 5 factors that ultimately entered the regression equation of factors affecting the self-directed learning ability of master nursing students,which were the degree of learning resources,analytical ability,open mind,CTDI-CV total score obtained in the study and the likeability for nursing profession.The 5 variables collectively explain 44.6% of the total variation in self-directed learning ability among master nursing students.7 variables ultimately entered the regression equation of factors influencing selfdirected learning ability of undergraduate nursing students were the degree of learning resources obtained in the study,scientific research experience,frequency of participating in group studies,cognitive maturity,systematized ability,CTDI-CV total score and likeability for nursing profession.The 7 variables collectively explain 34.2% of the total variation in self-directed learning ability among undergraduate nursing students.Conclusions: 1.The ability of self-directed learning and critical thinking of master nursing students and undergraduate nursing students are above the average level.The ability of self-directed learning and critical thinking of master nursing students and undergraduate nursing students should be further strengthened.2.The self-directed learning ability and critical thinking ability of nursing students and their various dimensions have a certain correlation,suggesting that the stronger the critical thinking ability of nursing students and the ability reflected in each dimension,the stronger the self-directed learning ability.It is suggested that nursing educators can improve the self-directed learning ability of nursing students by adopting educational and teaching measures that can improve the critical thinking ability and the ability characteristics of the corresponding dimensions.3.The self-directed learning ability of nursing master students is affected by 5 factors: the degree of learning resources obtained in learning,the degree of love for nursing specialty,the frequency of participating in group learning,scientific research experience,analytical ability,open thinking and critical thinking ability;undergraduate nursing students are affected by 7 factors,such as the degree of learning resources obtained in learning,the degree of love for nursing majors,the frequency of participating in group learning,scientific research experience,cognitive maturity,systematic ability and critical thinking ability.Among them,the degree of learning resources obtained in learning,the degree of love for nursing specialty and the ability of critical thinking are the common influencing factors of the 2 levels of nursing students.Nursing education institutions can improve the learning resources that nursing students can access in the learning process,cultivate their interest in nursing specialty,and implement some targeted teaching measures according to the characteristics of nursing students in different periods to improve their critical thinking ability,so as to improve their self-directed learning ability and achieve the goal of cultivating their lifelong learning habits.