INTRODUCTION:

In the world an area that has seen heavy investment is education. Millions of people of all age groups spend their time, money and efforts in pursing education in various institutions of learning. One of such is Baccalaureate nursing program. Baccalaureate nursing program today is becoming more heterogeneous. There is already a mixture of students with increasing number of adults (age 25-50 years) married and single male and female, shifters and second coursers who are seeking admission to the Nursing program. (Nagata 1996).

Meriman and Grooms (2003) stated “Inadequate reading, writing and study skills hamper their ability to master nursing and successfully pass the licensure examination”.¹

One cannot study everything available in every book they lay their hands on. Hence, one needs to perceive, comprehend and need special study skills to retrieve all that is learnt in the year at the time of examination. Nursing students undergo stress due to excessive homework and lack of time management skill. So at the end of this study there are a lot of unclear assignments (Wong IK Hong 2000). Nonis and Hudson (2010) reported that it was the quality of study rather than the time spent studying, that most affected learning out comes and effective study requires training and practice and effective study skills are associated with positive learning outcomes across many different content areas and diverse groups of learners.²

Universities and colleges offer an array of potential nursing programs open to student nurses, but there are a number of basic courses that must be taken during the first year of university as these courses lay the ground work for nursing. As a result, first year nursing students have heavy academic workload and need good study skills which include text book reading, note taking, memory, test preparation, concentration and time management. Mastery of the skills can be regarded of being important pre requisites for effective, responsible, and independent professional practice.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY:

One reason for poor student performance is lack of preparation. In particular, many students have poor study skills motivated by the view that the return to these skills is high, the traditional response to achievement of problems has been an array of academic service strategies. For example, most North American Institutions offer note taking, time management and goal setting workshops, as well as academic advising and remedial institutions. (Betsey O Bare Foot 2004).³

Mostafa Anur, Abdel et al., (2011) conducted a study on “Stress among Mansoura Baccalaureate nursing students”. Results showed prevalence of high stress level, anxiety and depression were 40.2%, 46.6%, and 27.9% respectively. On average each student reported a mean of 4.6 stressors and academic pressures were the most frequent stressors^.4 High stress levels in nursing students may affect memory, concentration and problem solving ability and lead to decreased learning, low academic performance and retention. This exploratory correlation study used Godzilla’s student life stress inventory (SSI) and Rosenberg’s self control scale (SCS) to explore learned resourcefulness stressors and academic performance in 53 baccalaureate nursing students (Goff A M 2011).⁵

Shakoori A and Nakhiei N (2008) conducted a study on “Study habits and skills and academic achievement of students in Kerman University of Medical Sciences”. The data was gathered from 400 students regarding study skills. Results revealed that the major defect in students study skills were planning and time management followed by concentration and note taking skills. Thus, study concluded that the students need to learn study skills for successful academic achievement.⁶

Amang Salama Ayoub and Eman Mohammed Abd El-Aziz (2013) conducted a quasi experimental one group pretest -posttest study to assess the effect of the study skills training program among freshmen nursing students. After implementation of the program, (92.5%) had moderate improvement in all dimensions of students study skills with statistically significant relation (p<0.05). Furthermore there was a statistically significant improvement of studied students GPA were observed post program (p<0.001). Thus the study recommended that study skills training program to all nursing students is required for achieving high academic scores.⁷

Salamon Son Y, Jane (2010) conducted a randomized controlled design study among 106 nursing students on Embedded academic writing support. An intervention of 4 days embedded academic writing and learning support workshop was facilitated to work through mock assignments. Using ANOVA, the results indicated that attendees achieved statistically significantly higher mean scores (70.8, SD: 6.1) compared to both control group (58.4, SD: 3.4, p=0.002) and non attendees (48.5, SD:5.5, p=0.00). Thus concluded that brief, embedded academic support workshop was effective in improving the academic writing ability of nursing students with low to medium english language proficiency.⁸

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM:

A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Structured Teaching Programme on Study Skills among B.Sc. Nursing First Year Students in College of Nursing, Tirupati, A.P.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

1. To assess the study skills among first year B.Sc. Nursing Students.

2. To evaluate the effectiveness of structured teaching programme on study skills.

HYPOTHESIS:

H₁: There will be significant difference between pre and post test scores on practice of study skills among first year B.Sc. Nursing Students.

H₂: There will be significant association between demographic variables and post test scores on level of practice of study skills among first year B.Sc. Nursing Students.

DELIMITATION:

· The study was limited to only B.Sc. Nursing First Year Students in College of Nursing , SVIMS, Tirupati,

· Study was delimited to Knowledge aspects of study skills only.

METHODOLOGY:

Research Approach and Design:

The research approach was quasi experimental with one group pre-test and post test design. This research design includes comparison and evaluation of variable before and after structured teaching programme on study skills.

Variables:

Dependent Variable:

Knowledge on study skills among first year B.Sc. (N) students.

Independent Variable:

Structured Teaching Programme.

Associate Variables:

Selected demographic variables.

Research Setting:

The study was conducted at College of Nursing, Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences, Tirupathi.

Population:

First year B.Sc. (N) students

Sample:

The sample consisted of 89 first year B.Sc. (N) students from college of nursing, Tirupati, A.P

Sampling Technique:

Non-Probability Convenient Sampling Technique was adopted to select the samples.

Development and Description of the tool:

A structured questionnaire was developed to collect demographic data and a standard tool on study skills inventory developed by Dennis H Congos was selected.

· Contained questions to collect demographic data related to first year B.Sc. (N) students.

· Data of the study skills inventory which consisted of six sections.

1. Text book reading (Q. No: 1-8)

2. Note taking (Q. No: 9-13)

3. Memory (Q. No: 14-22)

4. Test preparation (Q. No: 23-35)

5. Concentration (Q. No: 36-45)

6. Time management (Q. No: 46-51)

Scoring Key:

Scoring key was prepared for part I by coding demographic variables. Under part II section I to VI each question had five options with scoring 1 to 5. Likert scale was used with total score of 255 for a total of 51 items. The score was categorized as follows

· >70% (179 - 255) Adequate study skills

· 60% - 70% (153- 178) Moderate study skills

· < 60% (1- 152) Inadequate study skills

The content validity and reliability of the tool was established and data was gathered from 89 samples with minimum of 10-15 samples in each group.

RESULTS:

The collected data was analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics and the results were interpreted under the following headings.

Section 1. Findings related to analysis of demographic variables of first year B.Sc. (N) students.

Section 2. Level of practice of study skills among first year B.Sc. (N) students in pretest and post test.

Section 3. Comparison of pre and post test scores on practice of study skills.

Section 4. Association of demographic variables with post –test scores.

Section 1: Findings related to analysis of demographic variables of first year B.Sc. (N) students.

Table 1: Frequency and Percentage distribution of demographic variables of B. Sc. (N) I Year students N=89

S. No	Demographic Variables	Frequency (F)	Percentage (%)
1	Age in Years
	a. 17	8	9
	b. 18	56	62.9
	c. 19	19	21.3
	d. 20	4	4.5
	e. 21	2	2.2
2.	Gender
	a. Male	16	18
	b. Female	73	82
3.	Religion
	a. Hindu	77	86.5
	b. Muslim	6	6.7
	c. Christian	5	5.6
	d. Others	1	1.1
4.	Geographical back ground
	a. Urban	21	23.6
	b. Semi urban	21	23.6
	c. Rural	47	52.8
5.	Family income in rupees per month
	a. 1000-5000/-	53	59.6
	b. 5001-10,000/-	26	29.2
	c. 10,001-15,000/-	2	2.2
	d. 15,001-20,000/-	6	6.7
	e. Above 20,000/-	2	2.2
6.	Education of Father
	a. Illterate	23	25.8
	b. Primary School	23	25.8
	c. High School	23	25.8
	d. Graduate and above	20	22.5
7.	Education of Mother
	a. Illterate	34	38.2
	b. Primary School	20	22.5
	c. High School	26	29.2
	d. Graduate and above	9	10.1
8.	Medium of Education
	a. English	28	31.5
	b. Telugu	61	68.5
9.	How much time (hours)do you spend for study in a day
	a. 1	7	79
	b. 2	26	29.2
	c. 3	29	32.6
	d. 4	13	14.6
	e. 5 and above	14	15.7
10.	Education level
	a. P.U.C (intermediate)	88	98.9
	b. Graduate	1	1.1
11.	Father’s Occupation
	a. Unemployed	12	13.5
	b. Laborer	54	60.7
	c. Private employee	12	13.5
	d. Government employee	6	6.7
	e. Business	5	5.6
12.	Mother’s Occupation
	a. Unemployed	62	69.7
	b. Laborer	21	23.6
	c. Private employee	1	1.1
	d. Government employee	5	5.6
	e. Business	-	-
13.	Type of family
	a. Nuclear	70	78.7
	b. Joint	17	19.1
	c. Extended	2	2.2
14.	You are presently residing
	a. Alone	1	1.1
	b. In hostel	70	78.7
	c. With parents	16	18
	d. With relatives	2	2.2

Section 2: Level of practice of study skills among first year B.Sc. (N) students in pretest and post test.

Fig 1: Comparison of the practice of study skills scores of pre test and post test

Section 3: Comparison of pre and post test Mean and SD scores on practice of study skills.

Table 2: Mean, SD difference and paired ‘t’ test of pre test and post test scores on practice of study skills.

Group	Mean	SD difference	‘t’ value
Pre test	139.57	19.994	23.63^**
Post test	196.57	18.61	23.63^**

Data in the table 2 depicts higher post test mean score was (196.57) where as the pre test mean score was (139.51). The computed ‘t’ value (t=23.63) was highly significant (p<0.001). Hence the null hypothesis was rejected and research hypothesis was accepted at 0.001 level of significance. This indicates the significant effectiveness of the structured teaching programme increased the level of practice of study skills among first year B.Sc. (N) students.

Section 4: Association of demographic variables with post –test scores:

There was statistically significant association (p<0.05) between the post test scores of first year B.Sc. (N) students with their geographic background and education level.

CONCLUSION:

The findings of the study revealed that among 89 subjects of first year B.Sc. (N) students, in pretest 64(71.9%) had inadequate study skills, 23(25.8%) had moderate skills and 2(2.2%) had adequate study skills. It was also revealed that after structured teaching program on study skills the mean post test scores was (196.57) higher than the mean pretest score (139.57).

The above findings of the study showed that the structured teaching programme regarding study skills was highly effective and the study also revealed that there was significant association between the post test scores with demographic variables such as geographical background and education level.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

The following recommendations were made based on the results of the study.

1. A comparative study can be conducted among Government and Private Nursing Institutions.

2. A similar study can be conducted to assess the study skills among college students of various professions

3. A descriptive study can be done regarding the level of test anxiety and stress among the nursing students.

4. A similar study can be conducted on large sample in different settings.

5. To encourage colleges to offer student distance programme like study skills training, counseling on stress and anxiety reduction techniques.

REFERENCES:

1. Meriman and Grooms (2003) “ Patterns of peer tutoring in Nursing”, Journal of Nursing Education, May:2003, Vol.42, No.5

2. Nonis S and Hudson G (2010) “Performance of college students: Impact of study time and study habits”, Journal of Education for Buisness, 85,229-238.doi:16.1080/08832320903449550.

3. Betsey .O. Bare Foot (2004) “Blackboard for your college experience, Study Skills Edition”. ISBN-10-1-4576-3196-2, ISBN-13: 978-1-4576-3196-2.

4. Mostafa, Abdul (2011) “ Stress among Mansoura baccealuareate nursing students” , Journal of Nursing Research: Mar; Vol 8(26)

5. Anne. Marie-Goff (2011) “Stress, Academic performance and Learned resourcefulness in Bacealuareate nursing student”, Intenational Journal of Nursing Education, Vol l8(1)Article-1, page no: 135.

6. Shakoori A and Nakhei N(2008) “ Study habits and skills: Academic achievement of students”, Journal of Medical Education. Vol 12(3,4):77-80.

7. Amany Salama Ayoub and Eman Mohammed Abd El-Aziz (2018) “ Effectiveness of study skills training program among freshmen nursing students”, IOSR Journal of Nursing and Health sciences (IOSR_JNHS) C-ISSN:2320-1959, P-ISSN:2320-1940 Volume 7, Issue 3, Ver.V(May-June 2018) pp- 22-29.

8. Salamon son and Jane (2010) “Embedded academic writing support for nursing students with English as a second language”, Journal of Advanced Nursing. Vol 66(2): 413-421.

Received on 27.12.2019 Modified on 01.02.2020

Int. J. Nur. Edu. and Research. 2020; 8(3):299-302.

DOI: 10.5958/2454-2660.2020.00065.4