THE IMPACT OF PARTICIPATION IN A STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM ON STUDENTS CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF COMMUNITY-HEALTH NURSING IN A DEVELOPING-COUNTRY

A pilot study was undertaken to ascertain the changes in conceptual un derstanding that resulted from participation in a study abroad program me in Chiang Mai in Thailand of a small group of Australian final year nursing students. Students' conceptual understandings were measured b y means of open-ended interviews based on a case study scenario descri bing health conditions in a hypothetical Thai village. Students were a sked to imagine that they had been appointed to work as a community he alth nurse in the village and describe how they would undertake the ta sk. Shifts in understanding were detected by interviewing the particip ants before, during and after their participation in the programme and comparing their responses. The results of this limited study indicate d that the impact of participation in the programme was less than expe cted. Furthermore, the factors of which students tended to show greate st awareness were those about which they had been briefed prior to dep arture. Nevertheless participants reported they had learnt much from t heir experiences. It is suggested that the discrepancy between the evi dence provided by interview data and students' self-reports may be exp lained by participation having resulted primarily in the acquisition o f the tacit rather than conceptual knowledge.