To create awareness of where a student is at in terms of their readiness and response to learning, it is important to understand where they are coming from in terms of their ability to cope and manage the demands of the nursing program. One way of evaluating this is by assessing their ways of coping and motivation for learning. The following two tools have been used to assess these components of Indigenous student readiness to learn in pre-nursing, and nursing studies at the University of Manitoba. 

• The CSSI tool helps recognize student responses to test anxiety.

• The Coping in Stressful Situations Inventory (CSSI) brings awareness to whether a student uses task, emotional or avoidance-based coping in response to stress.

  • Task-Based Coping: Focus on task-orientated efforts that support problem-solving, restructuring the problem, or changing the situation. The goal of the task or thinking is to attempt to solve the problem.

  • Emotion-Based Coping: Focus is on emotional reactions. This method aims to decrease stress but is not always a successful means. Responses may include blame, anger, tension, and crying, all of which are responses to the problem, not necessarily ways to address it.

  • Avoidance Coping: Coping in which behaviours and activities surround avoidance of the stressful situation. Distractions are the main focus of avoidance coping  

(Choi et al., 2017; Lundqvist & Ahlström, 2006). 

• The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) was created as a tool to assess the academic motivation and learning strategies employed by university students.

• This tool explores an individualized assessment that students can complete independently. 

• Self-regulated learning has been identified as a means to academic success and is influenced by students’ self-generated thoughts, feelings, strategies, and behaviors about the goals they set out to achieve.

• The MLSQ is one of the most widely used tools to assess student self-regulation.

• The MLSQ provides insight for both the learner and the academic coach to strategize on appropriate methods for fostering a successful learning environment.

(Duncan & McKeachie, 2005; Dunn et al., 2012; Pintrich & DeGroot, 1990; Schunk, 2007))

Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire

Please rate the following items based on your behavior in this class. Your rating should be on a 7- point scale where 1= not at all true of me to 7=very true of me .

1. I prefer class work that is challenging so I can learn new things.

2. Compared with other students in this class I expect to do well

3. I am so nervous during a test that I cannot remember facts I have learned

4. It is important for me to learn what is being taught in this class

5. I like what I am learning in this class

6. I’m certain I can understand the ideas taught in this course

7. I think I will be able to use what I learn in this class in other classes

8. I expect to do very well in this class

9. Compared with others in this class, I think I’m a good student

10. I often choose paper topics I will learn something from even if they require more work

11. I am sure I can do an excellent job on the problems and tasks assigned for this class

12. I have an uneasy, upset feeling when I take a test

13. I think I will receive a good grade in this class

14. Even when I do poorly on a test I try to learn from my mistakes

15. I think that what I am learning in this class is useful for me to know

16. My study skills are excellent compared with others in this class

17. I think that what we are learning in this class is interesting

18. Compared with other students in this class I think I know a great deal about the subject

19. I know that I will be able to learn the material for this class

20. I worry a great deal about tests

21. Understanding this subject is important to me

22. When I take a test I think about how poorly I am doing

23. When I study for a test, I try to put together the information from class and from the book

24. When I do homework, I try to remember what the teacher said in class so I can answer the questions correctly

25. I ask myself questions to make sure I know the material I have been studying

26. It is hard for me to decide what the main ideas are in what I read

27. When work is hard I either give up or study only the easy parts

28. When I study I put important ideas into my own words

29. I always try to understand what the teacher is saying even if it doesn’t make sense.

30. When I study for a test I try to remember as many facts as I can

31. When studying, I copy my notes over to help me remember material

32. I work on practice exercises and answer end of chapter questions even when I don’t have to

33. Even when study materials are dull and uninteresting, I keep working until I finish

34. When I study for a test I practice saying the important facts over and over to myself

35. Before I begin studying I think about the things I will need to do to learn

36. I use what I have learned from old homework assignments and the textbook to do new assignments

37. I often find that I have been reading for class but don’t know what it is all about. 

38. I find that when the teacher is talking I think of other things and don’t really listen to what is being said

39. When I am studying a topic, I try to make everything fit together

40. When I’m reading I stop once in a while and go over what I have read

41. When I read materials for this class, I say the words over and over to myself to help me remember

42. I outline the chapters in my book to help me study

43. I work hard to get a good grade even when I don’t like a class

44. When reading I try to connect the things I am reading about with what I already know.

(Pintrich & DeGroot, 1990)

• The MLSQ is a readily available tool that is easy to comprehend and provides meaningful insights for the learner and educator.

• There is much research on its use to assess student self-regulation and its relationship to academic success.

• The CSSI is well supported by psychological research, however it was difficult to access and required licensed access. 

• Although both of these tools are backed by research in supporting the analysis of student readiness to learn, as an academic coach supporting Indigenous nursing and pre-nursing students, utilizing non-formative approaches seems less intimidating for students. 2 methods of significance:

  • • Pre-nursing class discussion on stressors and ways of coping

    • 1-1 discussions with students to discuss their life situations, ways of preferred learning and offering suggestions to support their academic success.