Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 21, 2026

Mechanical Ventilation Boot Camp Curriculum
Published on: March 12, 2018
A Bayesian Approach to Gateway Course Identification With Implications for the Prenursing Curriculum
Jo-Ann Stankus1, Mark Hamner, Michael Stankey
1Author Affiliations: Coordinator of RN BS/MS Program and Assistant Professor, College of Nursing (Dr Stankus), Vice Provost for Institutional Research & Improvement (Dr Hamner), Director of Analytics (Dr Stankey), and Associate Dean for Research and Clinical Scholarship/Professor, College of Nursing (Dr Mancuso), Texas Woman's University, Denton.
Background:
Analysis of student performance in gateway courses has been an important predictor of successful admission into upper-division nursing.
Purpose:
The aim was to explore the utility of a Bayesian statistical framework for determining threshold grades in prenursing courses that serve as gateways for successful admission into upper-division nursing programs.
Methods:
Records of 3500 prenursing students who entered the prenursing program of a midsized public university during the past decade were analyzed. The Bayesian framework was used to incorporate conditional probabilistic concepts of sensitivity and specificity to calculate gateway impact of various grade level cutoffs on successful upper-division nursing admission.
Results:
Identification, sequencing, and combination of grades attained in these gateway courses revealed different pathways to successful admission into upper-division nursing based on first-semester grade point average and ethnicity.
Conclusions:
Identification of primary/secondary gateway courses enhances successful matriculation and provides valuable information for advisors and curriculum planners for prenursing majors.
Related Concept Videos
Frustration and Conflict: Approach-Approach, Approach-Avoidance
One common type of conflict is the Approach–Approach Conflict. In this case, a person faces two desirable...
Methods of Classification and Identification
Information Processing Approach
Actuarial Approach
Consider the example of a high-risk surgical procedure with significant early-stage mortality. A two-year clinical study is conducted,...
The Nativist Approach
Horney's Sociocultural Approach

