The Effects of the Jigsaw Technique in Web-based Distance Education of Nursing Students: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Aim: This study aimed to determine the effect of the jigsaw technique on students' self-confidence, learning motivation, and academic success in physical examination e-teaching according to systems as a randomized controlled trial. The volunteering students were divided into two groups, intervention and control groups, according to a randomization made with a computer program. The Jigsaw Technique was applied to the intervention group, while the control group received the traditional learning method. To avoid interaction between the groups, the lessons in the intervention and control groups were conducted by different instructors.

Intervention Group; Starting from the week following the pre-test application, online training was continued according to the jigsaw technique for a total of 6 weeks, two hours a week, for the intervention group. In the first week, 6 subgroups of 6 people were created. Sub-topics of the physical examination course were shared according to the systems to these groups, called the main group, and the course documents were shared with the students.

In the first week, it was aimed for the groups to get to know each other and the first lesson was used for that. A responsible student was determined for each main group, names were given to the groups. In the second week, the students in the main group researched the sub-topics of the unit given to them and formed a new group by coming together with students who were researching the same subject. This group was called the expert group. In these groups, the students shared their course information and studied the subject by exchanging ideas to explain the subject they were working on to their friends. In the third and fourth weeks, expert groups continued their studies to reinforce the subject.

In the fifth and sixth groups, the students returned to their main groups and explained the subjects they had learned in the expert groups to their main group. Students were expected to teach each other all parts of the unit in their main groups. In the intervention group, the instructor only fulfilled the role of a guide and explained subjects that the students had difficulties understanding. At the end of the six weeks, the learning motivation and self-confidence scales were re-administered as a post-test. In addition, an academic achievement test was applied.

Control Group; The subjects were explained by the instructor with the traditional e-teaching method and as in the intervention group, the lectures were conducted online for two hours a week for 6 weeks. At the end of each week, the relevant course documents were shared with the students. At the end of the sixth week, the post-tests of the learning motivation and self-confidence scales were applied in the control group simultaneously with the intervention group.