The value of the ‘7E’ instructional model in the teaching of nursing students in nursing clinical probation

To investigate the value of 7E instructional model in the teaching of nursing students in nursing clinical probation.

One hundred and fifty-nine nursing undergraduates of the class of 2018 who were on probation in our hospital from November 2020 to June 2021 were selected as the control group by convenience sampling, and the traditional teaching model was adopted; an additional 171 nursing undergraduates of the class of 2019 who were on clinical probation in the same hospital from November 2021 to June 2022 were selected as the experimental group, and the 7E instructional model was adopted, including elicit, engagement, exploration, explain, elaborate, evaluate and extend.

After the intervention, the experimental group was higher than the control group in theoretical knowledge scores (59.47 ± 4.51 VS 54.11 ± 8.46), practical skills scores (19.62 ± 1.36 VS 19.14 ± 1.24) and total course scores (90.13 ± 2.98 VS 84.67 ± 4.47); total scores of learning motivation (30.57 ± 5.24 VS 29.41 ± 4.77), learning cooperation ability (20.35 ± 4.41 VS 19.02 ± 4.25), information literacy (23.14 ± 4.36 VS 21.12 ± 3.95) and self-regulated learning ability (114.00 ± 19.72 VS 109.07 ± 18.61); total scores of viewpoint acquisition (43.58 ± 5.21 VS 42.16 ± 5.10), emotional care (33.41 ± 4.54 VS 32.09 ± 4.47), transposition thinking (13.04 ± 2.97 VS 11.56 ± 2.43) and empathy ability (89.03 ± 13.87 VS 85.81 ± 13.55); and total scores of positive attitudes toward communication skills (55.39 ± 7.03 VS 51.54 ± 6.54), with a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05).

The 7E instructional model contributes to improved course grades, self-regulated learning and empathy, and positive attitudes toward communication skills among nursing students in their nursing clinical probation.