Development of a visual analogue scale to measure curriculum outcomes

All facets of nursing education are more often being held accountable for outcomes, yet measures that accurately capture those outcomes may not be available. This article describes the development of instruments to measure the two outcomes of communication and critical thinking for the culminating assignment in master's programs. Visual analogue scales are adaptable instruments that capture subjective phenomena, permit quantification of those phenomena, and produce at least interval-level data. These instruments have been used for several years to help evaluate outcomes in master's programs and have consistently produced evidence of reliability and validity.