Technology Facilitated PBL Pedagogy and its Impact on Nursing Student's Academic Achievement and Critical Thinking Dispositions

The impact of particular learning environments and self-regulation could be a beneficial area for research focus. More specifically, there has not been sufficient attention given to the role played by disposition or "will" in facilitating self-regulation to be successful. A student can possess the skills or ability to think critically but lack the will or motivation to use those skills. This quasi-experimental study investigated traditional lecture instruction, PBL, and blended problem-based learning (B-PBL) on students' academic achievement and critical thinking dispositions. The results were compared. The findings revealed that the use of a blended problem based learning strategies had a positive impact on student achievemen t. However, no significance was found among the groups in critical thinking dispositions for categorical variables at both the pretest and posttest , indicating the need for long-term exposure to B-PBL environments before results could reveal significant changes in attitude towards the usage of critical thinking skills . Recommendations included conducting a longitudinal study and a qualitative study, and further studies be conducted within different disciplines and with different class levels regarding different combinations of using ICT and PBL.