Background: Nursing students are required to acquire, retain, and retrieve a large volume of factual and procedural information. Mnemonics are memory-support strategies that organize information into meaningful cues, such as acronyms, phrases, associations, imagery, or other structured prompts. They may be particularly useful in nursing education, where students must recall sequences, classifications, terminology, assessment components, and clinical processes. However, familiarity with mnemonic strategies does not necessarily indicate adequate knowledge of how or when to use them. The present study compared knowledge and practice regarding mnemonics among first-year and final-year B.Sc. Nursing students and used the identified learning needs to guide development of an information booklet.
Methods: A quantitative comparative research approach was used. The study included 80 B.Sc. Nursing students, comprising 40 first-year and 40 final-year students from selected nursing colleges in Kolar. Participants were selected using non-probability purposive sampling. Data were collected using a Structured Knowledge Questionnaire (SKQ) and a Structured Practice Questionnaire (SPQ). The study also collected selected demographic characteristics, including age, gender, religion, type of family, area of residence, parental education and occupation, family income, previous knowledge of mnemonics, and source of information. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the findings. Group comparisons were examined using t-test statistics, relationships between knowledge and practice were assessed using Pearson’s correlation, and associations with selected demographic variables were examined using chi-square analysis.
Results: Most first-year students (35; 87.5%) had poor knowledge regarding mnemonics, while 5 (12.5%) had average knowledge. Among final-year students, 31 (77.5%) had poor knowledge and 9 (22.5%) had average knowledge. The mean knowledge score was 12.25 (SD 3.74) in first-year students and 13.68 (SD 3.067) in final-year students, with a mean difference of 1.42. Based on the reported t value of 1.863, the difference does not reach conventional statistical significance at the 0.05 level. Practice was more favorable: 31 (77.5%) first-year students and 33 (82.5%) final-year students demonstrated favorable practice. Mean practice scores were 32.13 (SD 6.313) and 37.25 (SD 5.465), respectively, with a mean difference of 5.10 and a reported t value of 3.863. Pearson’s correlation showed no significant relationship between overall knowledge and practice (r=0.042, p=0.711). Correlations were also non-significant in first-year students (r=0.026, p=0.874) and final-year students (r=0.145, p=0.371).
Conclusion: Both groups demonstrated a need for strengthening knowledge regarding mnemonic strategies, although final-year students had higher mean knowledge and practice scores. The findings support development of a structured information booklet and incorporation of practical, context-specific mnemonic teaching into nursing education. Because the present study was comparative rather than an intervention study, the information booklet should be considered an educational resource rather than an intervention proven effective by this study.
Mnemonics; Memory; Knowledge; Practice; B.Sc. Nursing Students; Nursing Education; Information Booklet
Background: Nursing students are required to acquire, retain, and retrieve a large volume of factual and procedural information. Mnemonics are memory-support strategies that organize information into meaningful cues, such as acronyms, phrases, associations, imagery, or other structured prompts. They may be particularly useful in nursing education, where students must recall sequences, classifications, terminology, assessment components, and clinical processes. However, familiarity with mnemonic strategies does not necessarily indicate adequate knowledge of how or when to use them. The present study compared knowledge and practice regarding mnemonics among first-year and final-year B.Sc. Nursing students and used the identified learning needs to guide development of an information booklet.
Methods: A quantitative comparative research approach was used. The study included 80 B.Sc. Nursing students, comprising 40 first-year and 40 final-year students from selected nursing colleges in Kolar. Participants were selected using non-probability purposive sampling. Data were collected using a Structured Knowledge Questionnaire (SKQ) and a Structured Practice Questionnaire (SPQ). The study also collected selected demographic characteristics, including age, gender, religion, type of family, area of residence, parental education and occupation, family income, previous knowledge of mnemonics, and source of information. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the findings. Group comparisons were examined using t-test statistics, relationships between knowledge and practice were assessed using Pearson’s correlation, and associations with selected demographic variables were examined using chi-square analysis.
Results: Most first-year students (35; 87.5%) had poor knowledge regarding mnemonics, while 5 (12.5%) had average knowledge. Among final-year students, 31 (77.5%) had poor knowledge and 9 (22.5%) had average knowledge. The mean knowledge score was 12.25 (SD 3.74) in first-year students and 13.68 (SD 3.067) in final-year students, with a mean difference of 1.42. Based on the reported t value of 1.863, the difference does not reach conventional statistical significance at the 0.05 level. Practice was more favorable: 31 (77.5%) first-year students and 33 (82.5%) final-year students demonstrated favorable practice. Mean practice scores were 32.13 (SD 6.313) and 37.25 (SD 5.465), respectively, with a mean difference of 5.10 and a reported t value of 3.863. Pearson’s correlation showed no significant relationship between overall knowledge and practice (r=0.042, p=0.711). Correlations were also non-significant in first-year students (r=0.026, p=0.874) and final-year students (r=0.145, p=0.371).
Conclusion: Both groups demonstrated a need for strengthening knowledge regarding mnemonic strategies, although final-year students had higher mean knowledge and practice scores. The findings support development of a structured information booklet and incorporation of practical, context-specific mnemonic teaching into nursing education. Because the present study was comparative rather than an intervention study, the information booklet should be considered an educational resource rather than an intervention proven effective by this study.
Mnemonics; Memory; Knowledge; Practice; B.Sc. Nursing Students; Nursing Education; Information Booklet