Appreciation of the Research-Practice Link: Authentic Learning Environments for Writing-Intensive Nursing Courses

Undergraduate students often perceive a disconnect between research and nursing practice. To support student understanding of this relationship, an innovative, authentic learning environment was created in a writing-intensive, capstone-level nursing course. Authentic learning environments couple real-life situations/simulations with personal, experiential learner engagement. Students completed pre- and postsurveys assessing their beliefs about and confidence in using research to inform practice. Quantitative and open-ended qualitative responses were analyzed with inferential statistics and conventional content analysis techniques, respectively. Findings suggested the learning environment increased student confidence and facilitated connections between research and practice, supporting continued use and further evaluation of this approach.