Effect of a Self-Instruction Package on Cognitive Performance among Egyptian and Saudi Pediatric Nursing Students

Nursing educators should recognize the need to develop innovative teaching strategies that would enhance student learning. Aim: The study aimed to evaluate the effect of applying a self-instruction package on cognitive performance among pediatric nursing students in Egyptian and Saudi settings. Methods: This quasiexperimental study was carried out at the Faculty of Nursing, Cairo-University, Egypt and the College of Nursing, Hail University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) on a sample of convenience of 100 Egyptian and 90 Saudi nursing students. A self-instruction unit addressing lower respiratory infections, especially pneumonia was prepared and applied. The effectiveness was measured through pre-post-testing. Results: The results showed that the students in both samples had high levels of success in the posttests reaching in total 99.0% in the Egyptian sample and 100.0% in the Saudi sample. The lowest level of success in both samples were in the “compare” level of knowledge, 91.0% and 94.4% in the Egyptian and Saudi samples, respectively. As for the rates by question type, it reached 100.0% for “MCQ” and “list” types in both samples. Saudi students had significantly higher scores in the “know” level of knowledge (p=0.04), and in the “list” (p=0.02) and “compare/match” (p=0.004) types of questions, but with no statistically significant difference in total score (p=0.20). In multivariate analysis, the module was the main statistically significant independent positive predictor of the knowledge score improvement at all levels of knowledge. The Egyptian nationality was a positive predictor for the “know” and “analyze” levels. Meanwhile, the female gender was a positive predictor of the “apply” level of knowledge. Additionally, the Egyptian nationality was a positive predictor for the “MCQ” and “list” types. Conclusion: the self-instruction package is effective in improving the cognitive performance of nursing students in Egypt and Saudi Arabia in all cognitive levels and used various types of questions. The study recommends the use of the package in nursing schools, and development of similar ones in different topics.