Nursing student perception and performance with collaborative testing

Abstract

Background and objective: Collaboration is an important and necessary skill to function effectively within the practice of nursing and inter-professional teams. The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the impact of collaborative testing on nursing student content retention and student perception of the collaborative testing process.

Methods: A convenience sample of nursing students (n = 95) were grouped in random pairs and permitted to collaborate on exam 3 (of 5) in an entry level medical surgical nursing course. Students were surveyed with the 13-item survey, Student Evaluation of Collaborative Testing, after the collaborative exam.

Results and conclusions: There was a strong, positive correlation between students’ exam 3 grades and the number of correct responses to exam 3 content items on the final exam, r = .511, p < .001. For every one-point increase on exam 3 grades, the number of correct responses on exam 3 content on the final exam increased by .511. As such, students who scored higher on exam 3 also had more correct responses to exam 3 content on the final exam. There was a strong, positive correlation between students’ exam 3 and final exam scores, r = .536, p < .001. It may (or may not) be the case that students’ who perceived collaborative learning more positively were more impacted by the collaborative learning experience, resulting in higher scores on the final exam.