Effects of constructivist teaching methods on bioethics education for nursing students: A quasi-experimental study

SUMMARYBackground er to help nurses advocate for the patientʹs human rights and ensure respect for life in clinical situations, it is of utmost importance to improve nursing studentsʹ capacity to make ethical decisions. ives tudy compares the effects of two constructivist teaching strategies (action learning and cross-examination debate) on nursing studentsʹ recognition of bioethical issues, experience of bioethical issues, and attainment of ethical competence. tudy used a quasi-experimental (two-group pretest–posttest) design. g ing college in South Korea. ipants l of 93 Korean nursing students participated in the study (46 in the action learning group and 47 in the cross-examination debate group). s ipants took a bioethics class employing one or the other of the strategies mentioned, 2 h a week for 15 weeks. All participants responded twice to a set of questionnaires, at the beginning of the first session and at the end of the last session. s their bioethics education, the studentsʹ recognition of bioethical issues improved for both classes; however, the knowledge of students who had participated in action learning improved more than that of the students in the debate-based class. Students in both groups reported more experience of bioethics and exposure to better-quality instruction in bioethics after their classes than previously. Students in both groups also reported improved ethical competency after this education. sion ve effects of action learning and cross-examination debate implemented as teaching strategies on nursing studentsʹ understanding of bioethical issues and their ethical competency were identified; these findings will be important in the essential task of teaching bioethics to nursing students in order to foster more ethical decision-making and other ethical behavior.