Understanding Synthesis Across Disciplines to Improve Nursing Education

Nursing students must learn higher-order thinking skills of analysis and synthesis to manage complex data for decision making in healthcare. Teaching synthesis, however, is challenging and elusive due to lack of understanding of the concept and an explicit pedagogy for teaching it. A qualitative, mu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Western journal of nursing research 2016-06, Vol.38 (6), p.668-685
Main Authors: Blondy, Laurie C., Blakeslee, Ann M., Scheffer, Barbara K., Rubenfeld, M. Gaie, Cronin, Brenda M., Luster-Turner, Rose
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Clinical Competence
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive skills
Contextual factors
Critical thinking
Decision making
Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate
Focus Groups
Health care
Humans
Interdisciplinary aspects
Learning
Medical education
Middle Aged
Nursing
Nursing education
Nursing Education Research
Professional knowledge
Qualitative Research
Students, Nursing
Teaching
Teaching methods
Thinking
Thinking skills
Understanding
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Summary:Nursing students must learn higher-order thinking skills of analysis and synthesis to manage complex data for decision making in healthcare. Teaching synthesis, however, is challenging and elusive due to lack of understanding of the concept and an explicit pedagogy for teaching it. A qualitative, multi-phased research project was designed to gain understanding of what synthesis is, how professionals acquire synthesis skills, and how to best teach synthesis. The first phase explored interdisciplinary descriptions of synthesis. Three focus groups were conducted, and interdisciplinary participants responded to several questions. Several themes emerged suggesting that synthesis depends on cognitive skills and competencies, situational and contextual factors, preparation and knowledge acquisition skills, interpersonal and interaction skills, and personal qualities. Participants also supported use of multi-modal teaching strategies to reinforce students’ use of synthesis in learning. This project provided a beginning understanding of the synthesis process, revealing striking similarities in synthesis across professional disciplines.
ISSN:0193-9459
1552-8456
DOI:10.1177/0193945915621720