A longitudinal study of critical thinking skills in baccalaureate nursing students

Embedded in the fifth objective of National Education Goal Five from the United States Department of Education are critical thinking abilities to be addressed by educators. The goal proclaimed that remarkable and measurable improvements in critical thinking skills be noted in all college graduates by the year 2000 (U.S. Department of Education, 1995).;Specifically, nurse educators have become increasingly concerned about the development of critical thinking skills. In 1991, the National League for Nursing (NLN) adopted new criteria for the evaluation of baccalaureate and higher degree programs, which included a required criterion of critical thinking. Standard VI stated that the program must have an identified plan for systematic program evaluation and assessment of educational outcomes. The required outcome of critical thinking was to be evaluated according to its relationship to student academic achievement by program type (National League for Nursing, 1999).;The design of this ex post facto study was longitudinal over a four-year period. The study included two separate classes of full-time students in a baccalaureate nursing program. The first class of nursing students attended the program between the years of 1996--1999; the second class attended the program between the years of 1997--2000. Students entered the nursing program during the fall semester of the sophomore year. Beginning sophomore students were asked to complete a Student Information Sheet and the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST). Both classes were asked again to complete a Student Information Sheet and the CCTST during the spring semester before graduation.;The results from the longitudinal study of the two groups of baccalaureate nursing students revealed that there was an increase in the raw scores on the CCTST overall test and all subtests for both groups. The data analysis from the class of 1996--1999 showed a statistically significant difference (p = 0.03) in the paired scores on the CCTST overall test score and in the sub-scales of evaluation (alpha = .003) and deductive reasoning (alpha = .008). The data analysis from the class of 1997--2000 showed a statistically significant difference (p = 0.01) in the paired scores on the CCTST overall test score, but did not reveal a statistically significant difference in the sub-scales scores.;The data analysis also revealed a statistically significant relationship existent between the CCTST overall post-test scores and the variable of composite ACT (p = 0.03) for the 1996--1999 class. A statistically significant relationship was also present between the CCTST overall post-test scores and the variables of admission GPA to the nursing program ( p = 0.03) and the composite ACT (p = 0.04) for the 1997--2000 class. Implications for nursing curriculum and educational practice based on the findings and conclusions from this study were provided. Recommendations for further research were also identified.