Teaching communication skills: effects of two methods of instruction and selected learner characteristics

Performance outcomes were compared for groups of students (N = 147) randomly assigned to role play or lecture instruction for learning basic communication skills. These students also differed on the attributes of learning style and traditional-nontraditional status. Analysis of variance with age as a covariant was used in a factorial design to compare performance of the various subgroups on objective tests at two time intervals and on instructor ratings of students' skills on four dimensions of communication in process recordings of actual nurse-patient interactions. Significant (p = less than .05) differences were demonstrated as follows: the field-independent learning style group had higher mean scores on objective tests than did the field-dependent group, and the nontraditional group (older with prior academic degrees and life experience) had higher mean scores on the initial objective test and on instructor rated process recordings for the dimensions of caring, concreteness and empathy than did the traditional BSN student group in the sample. Differences in student evaluation ratings of the instructional method which were significant (chi 2 p = less than .05) included: role-play students indicated greater interest, active involvement and preference for the method, and lecture students indicated greater confidence that the method met the objectives and that they understood the material although no differences in overall mean performances were demonstrated. Interactive effects and the implications of the study findings are discussed.