Mind Mapping: Impact on Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Mind mapping.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Mind Mapping, Nursing Students, Critical Thinking. Basic parameters: No limits · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- Center list to be confirmed — check the primary protocol.
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Official title
Visualizing Thought Through Mind Mapping: A Randomized Controlled Trial on Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills Among Nursing Students
Overview
This randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the mind mapping method in enhancing critical thinking and problem-solving skills among nursing students. The study will be conducted with 65 nursing students enrolled in a "Critical Thinking in Nursing" course at Gazi University during the 2025-2026 academic year. Participants will be assigned to experimental and control groups using stratified randomization based on pre-test scores from the "Marmara Critical Thinking Tendencies Scale" and the "Problem-Solving Inventory." The five-week intervention focuses on five clinical case studies: infection control, medication administration, patient safety, ethical issues, and systematic approaches. While both groups receive the same theoretical content, they follow different practical methodologies: The Control Group will engage in standard case analysis methods. The Experimental Group will work in small teams (4-5 students) to create and present visual mind maps for each case study, using either traditional or digital tools. Following the intervention, both groups will complete post-tests to assess changes in their critical thinking and problem-solving competencies.
Detailed description
Mind maps consist of a network of interconnected concepts designed to uncover creative connections between ideas. As two-dimensional visual learning tools, they bridge a student's prior knowledge with newly acquired information. This note-taking technique emphasizes creativity and visual representation and has increasingly transitioned into computer-based environments with technological advancements.
This study employs a randomized controlled experimental design to evaluate the effectiveness of mind mapping in enhancing nursing students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills. A power analysis was performed using the G\*Power Version 3.1.9.7 program based on the 80 students enrolled in the course during the 2025-2026 academic year to determine the sample size. In a similar study in the literature the mean and standard deviation data for the pre-test (94.52 ± 24.11) and post-test (84.26 ± 19.95) for the experimental group, the effect size was determined to be 0.4559608. Based on a 5% margin of error and 95% power parameters, the t-test for dependent groups determined the minimum sample size to be n=54. Taking into account potential data losses that may occur during the study process, a 20% margin was added to the sample group, and the study was planned to begin with a total of 65 participants.
Data will be gathered using a "Demographic Information Form," the "Marmara Critical Thinking Tendencies Scale," and the "Problem-Solving Inventory." Researchers developed five distinct case studies covering infection control, medication administration, patient safety/medical errors, ethical issues, and systematic approaches. Each case includes specific questions regarding fundamental nursing roles and risk areas.
All students will complete the demographic form and pre-tests. Eligible volunteers will then be randomized into experimental and control groups, stratified by their average pre-test scores.The intervention will span five weeks during the scheduled "Critical Thinking in Nursing" course. Following a 40-50 minute theoretical lecture, the groups will move to separate classrooms:
Control Group: Students will continue with the standard curriculum, analyzing the cases using traditional methods under the instructor's guidance.
Experimental Group: Students will be divided into small groups (4-5 members) to create visual mind maps for each weekly topic. They will have 20-30 minutes to develop their maps-using either paper and pen or web-based tools-followed by group presentations and discussions.
After five weeks, post-tests will be administered to all participants. Data will be analyzed using SPSS version 23, with a significance level set at p \< 0.05.
Interventions
- Other Mind mapping
They will create mind maps on five different topics.
Primary outcome measures
- Marmara Critical Thinking Tendencies Scale [Time frame: one week and five weeks after the intervention]
- Problem-Solving Inventory [Time frame: one week and five weeks after the intervention]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- Students who are enrolling in the Critical Thinking in Nursing course for the first time and
- who volunteer to participate in the study
Exclusion criteria
- Students who have previously taken the critical thinking course
- The student's refusal to continue participating in the study or failure to complete the data collection forms.
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: Yes
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Parallel assignment
- Masking
- Single blind
- Primary purpose
- Other
Study locations
Center list to be confirmed — check the primary protocol.
Identifiers
NCT: NCT07548658 · E.1500206