Development and validation of the oral presentation evaluation scale (OPES) for nursing students

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Communication Skills Assessment

Background:

• Oral presentations are crucial for nursing students' education.
• Validated tools for objective assessment of student presentations are lacking.
• Need for reliable instruments to evaluate and improve nursing students' oral presentation skills.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the Oral Presentation Evaluation Scale (OPES) for nursing students.
• To create a tool for self-assessment of oral presentation skills.
• To potentially enable educators to assess student presentations.

Main Methods:

• Developed a 28-item self-report scale (OPES) based on literature review and interviews.
• Conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA and CFA) for internal structure.
• Assessed internal consistency and relationships with communication apprehension and competence scales.

Main Results:

• Exploratory factor analysis identified three factors: content accuracy, communication effectiveness, and speech clarity, explaining 64.75% of variance.
• The final 15-item OPES demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach's α = .94).
• The scale showed significant correlations with established communication assessment tools, supporting validity.

Conclusions:

• The OPES is a reliable self-assessment instrument for nursing students learning oral presentation skills.
• Further research is needed to confirm its validity for educator-led objective evaluations.
• The OPES can aid in enhancing nursing students' public speaking abilities.