title: Assessing student outcomes in a nursing learning assistance program.
abstract: This study measured the apparent effectiveness of a Learning Assistance Program (LAP) in second-year baccalaureate nursing students using a process-outcome design. Seventy-eight students participated in LAP and 98 did not. SAT/ACT scores and freshman GPA were the cognitive "input" variables and the end-of-sophomore-year GPA the cognitive "outcome" variable. Affective variables at the beginning and end of the test year were the Study Attitudes and Methods Survey (SAMS) and the Survey of Reading and Study Efficiency (SR/SE). Statistical analysis included stepwise multiple regressions for evaluating the relationship between the process (LAP participation) and outcomes when the entry variables had been accounted for. Attending LAP improved participants' study attitudes and skills scores. There was a significant negative correlation between the degree of LAP participation by lower achieving students and their sophomore-year-ending GPA. This may be related to the fact that students who perform poorly on tests are encouraged to participate in LAP.
authors.affiliation: Loma Linda University School of Nursing, CA 92350.
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Foster
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zimmerman
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Condon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D016294:Models, Nursing; D015402:Nursing Education Research / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology