Effects of Online Unfolding Case Studies on Clinical Reasoning and Academic Performance of Undergraduate Nursing Students

Abstract

A single-episode online case study increases cognitive load in contrast to an unfolding online case study, which decreases cognitive load, improves academic performance, and enhances clinical reasoning. However, online utilization of unfolding case studies is limited. A one-group pretest posttest experimental design was employed with 45 nursing students in a pathophysiology course. Data were collected using Lasater’s clinical reasoning scale and quiz scores to assess academic performance. The academic performance and clinical reasoning of nursing students were significantly higher with online unfolding case studies (p < .001), providing support for the use of the online unfolding case study method.