Identification and validation of problem solving curriculum components for nursing students education

The present study was conducted with the aim of designing and validating the components of problem solving curriculum for nursing students in Iran. The present study is a mixed method research (qualitative and quantitative) that its qualitative section was Identification of problem solving curriculum components and this section was conducted through taking notes of texts and semi-structured interview with 12 people (6 curriculum specialists and 6 nursing instructors) who were sampled in a targeted way. Its quantitative section was used to validate the curriculum and it was surveyed by distributing questionnaires between 40 people (20 curriculum specialists who have been chosen purposefully and 20 nursing instructors who were counted). It should be noted that the validity of the questionnaire was determined through experts’ assessment (which eliminated 22 components from 77 components) and its reliability was determined through the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (more than 92%). Descriptive statistics (tables, charts, etc.) and inferential statistics (Chi-square) were used to analyze the data. In the end, the findings of the research indicated that more than 85% of curriculum specialists and nursing instructors have approved 55 remaining components of 77 components related to goals, content, teaching and learning methods, and evaluation in the model. Therefore, the model can play a great role in developing students’ problem-solving skills.