The influence of concept mapping on critical thinking in baccalaureate nursing students

This article describes a quasi-experimental study that used a pretest-posttest design with a control group to evaluate the effectiveness of concept mapping in developing critical thinking skills in baccalaureate nursing students. A convenience sample (n = 76) was randomly assigned to experimental (n = 44) and control (n = 32) groups. The experimental group was taught to use concept mapping of patient information to prepare for clinical experiences. The control group was taught to use traditional nursing care plans. Critical thinking skills were measured with the California Critical Thinking Skills Test, which yielded six scores: an overall score and five subscales (analysis, evaluation, inference, deductive reasoning, and inductive reasoning). A significant difference (p <.05) was found between the mean pretest and posttest scores and each subscale. Post hoc tests found differences between groups to be insignificant, while various differences within a group were significant. Experimental-group scores improved significantly (p <.05) on the overall score and the analysis and evaluation subscales, while control-group scores improved significantly only on the evaluation subscale and declined significantly on the inference subscale. The findings suggest that concept mapping is effective in helping students develop critical thinking skills.