Several faculty and undergraduate students in the School of Nursing published in the April edition of Journal of Nursing Education. Ann Butt, clinical assistant professor, and Rosemary Macy, associate professor, along with Suzan Kardong-Edgren and Boise State nursing students, Sarah Harding, Caleb J. Roberts, Alexandra Waddell, and Amanda Erickson published “Expert Modeling, Expert/Self-Modeling Versus Lecture: A Comparison of Learning, Retention, and Transfer of Rescue Skills in Health Professions Students.”
It is unclear whether traditional lecture followed by simulation leads to the best learning, knowledge and skill retention over time. A mixed design study used three modes of education- traditional lecture with self-guided learning, expert modeling/dual viewing with brief questioning, and expert plus self-modeling- measured at four time points, to compare knowledge, time to treat, and correct steps over time. No significant differences were found in knowledge or time to treat between training methods. The group using the education mode of expert modeling/dual viewing with brief questioning performed more steps correctly than did the other two groups, which included a group that received a traditional lecture with self-guided learning and a group who received expert plus self-modeling. The team concluded that expert modeling may help students remember and perform a complex series of tasks in a scenario and recommended that further research is needed to explore expert modeling for novice learners.