The relationships between the types of learning approaches used by undergraduate nursing students and their academic achievement: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Identifying and promoting an appropriate learning approach among nursing students is important in nursing education. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between undergraduate nursing students' approaches to learning and their academic achievement. A systematic review with a quantitative synthesis was conducted. Abstract searches of CINAHL, MEDLINE, PubMed, ERIC and Scopus were conducted in November 2020 to identify the relevant publications. In total, 11 studies involving 12 cohorts were identified as eligible for the meta-analysis. Based on nine studies with 10 cohorts (N = 1830), a significant positive relationship between the deep approach to learning and academic achievement was identified, with the summary effect size of r = 0.259 [95% CI: 0.184, 0.330]. In addition, based on 11 studies with 12 cohorts (N = 2138), a significant negative correlation between the surface approach to learning and academic achievement was found, with the summary effect size of r = -0.247 [95% CI: -0.318, -0.174]. Higher education institutions should encourage the use of the deep approach and discourage the surface approach to learning by utilising appropriate educational instructions and assessment methods.