The Essence of Simulation Laboratory Learning Experiences among Student Nurses in a Higher Educational Institution in the Republic of Korea towards an Enhancement Program

Abstract

The findings of this descriptive and explorative study determined how the students in one of the private universities in a Department of Nursing in the Republic of Korea perceived the value of Simulation Laboratory experiences using high-fidelity simulation (HFS) as a
teaching strategy in terms of their learning acquisition in the three learning domains. A 30-item questionnaire was given to 166 nursing students throughout the two consecutive semesters of the Academic Years 2016-2017 and 2017-2018, to conduct a descriptive correlative and comparison study using the quantitative method. Their views and suggestions were also investigated. For the qualitative approach, twelve (12) participants provided narrations of their thoughts, feelings, and symbolic representations of the learning experiences in their Simulation Laboratory class. According to the study's findings, the respondents thought that using HFS to help nursing students acquire their cognitive, psychomotor, and affective learning domains was very beneficial. Moreover, there was a
significant relationship between the student’s perception of effectiveness and importance of HFS used in their Simulation Laboratory
course and their year level in the knowledge and affective domains of learning, but not in the domain of skill acquisition. On the other
hand, acceptance of the null hypothesis in terms of significant relationship was noted on the gender variable. Similarly, no significant
difference existed in students’ perception of the effectiveness and importance of HFS used as an instructional strategy for their learning acquisition in the cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains of learning when grouped according to their gender profile, but in terms of the year level classification, a significant difference in the cognitive and affective domains of learning were reflected. Consequently, a specially designed Simulation Laboratory Enhancement Program for university nursing students was conceptualized.