Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of interactive audiovisual (AV) enhancement on examinee problem-solving and decision-making activities during a Computerized Clinical Simulation Test (CST) of nursing competence and to determine which activities were most affected by AV inclusion. Two forms of CST and a questionnaire requesting examinee opinions about CST were administered to two different groups. Findings suggest that no reliability was lost by a change in format. An analysis of the item difficulty calibrations under the different administration conditions revealed that some items (particularly data-gathering items) functioned differently when cases were presented in an AV format. Those exposed to an AVformat presentation took significantly longer to complete the AV-enhanced cases but committed significantly fewer risky and inappropriate actions. Examinees exposed to AV format reported feeling more involved with the patients and better able to identify patient problems.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.