Nursing students' knowledge of genetics and genomics: an online module

The purpose of this study was to discover the knowledge of genetics and genomics held by Texas Woman's University College of Nursing students in their junior and senior years of the nursing curriculum. A quantitative study was conducted. The study consisted of an online introductory module in genetic and genomic nursing. The module was made available to 223 students in 2 classes. 114 students took the module. Pre and post tests of 10 questions each with the module were given to the experimental group. The control group received a pretest of the same 20 questions followed by the module. To answer the research question, which asked if there was an effect of viewing online modules on participants' scores at posttest, two types of analyses were conducted. The first type of analyses involved a series of cross tabulations with Pearson chi squares examining the relationships between group (control versus experimental) on participants ' correct/incorrect responses for the test to assess student competence before exposure to the module questions and the Test to assess student competence after exposure to the module questions. The second was an item analyses of responses to each of the 20 questions. Two separate ANOVAs were conducted on the effect on participants' overall

scores. No overall statistical significance was found in the responses between the experimental and control groups. The statistical analyses revealed several individually significant or marginally significant findings, but none that influenced the overall statistical significance of the study. While the null hypothesis for the study is correct and needs to be accepted for this study, there are important findings from an educational perspective. From the perspective of this study, the junior and senior nursing students who took the introductory module showed a beginning knowledge of genetics and genomics as a biological science as well as the nursing implications of this knowledge. The educational implications of the study show the readiness of the TWU College of Nursing students for greater depth in genetics/genomics in each specific area of the nursing curriculum.