The predictive validity of the nursing aptitude test

• Main Author: Romero, Danilo M.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2000
• Subjects: Examinations > Validity; Ability > Testing; Occupational aptitude tests; Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/2287
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study determines the predictive validity of the Nursing Aptitude Test (NAT) in relation to the grade point average (GPA), Nursing Board Examination ratings (NBER) and average grade in mathematics (AGM) of Remedios T, Romualdez Memorial Schools-Makati Medical Center (RTRMS-MMC) graduates from 1996 to 1998.The respondents of the study are graduates of Bachelor of Science in Nursing at RTRMS-MMC for three consecutive years, represented as follows: 68 graduates in 1996, 97 in 1997, and 76 in 1998 or a total of 241 graduates. Transferees from other schools who do not have NAT records are not included in this study.Statistical treatment consists of the use of mean and standard deviation to obtain the overall performance and the extent of the variations of the respondents' NAT subtests scores, GPA, NBER and AGM Pearson r to determine the degree of relationship of the NAT subtests scores to the GPA, NBER and AGM and the multiple stepwise regression analysis to ascertain which of the NAT subtests scores of the respondents are predictors of GPA, NBER and AGM.The study shows that the mean scores for Numerical Facility (NF), Science and Health Information (SHI) and Spatial Perception (SP) when separately matched to the NAT Standard Score Scale, are equivalent to average ratings, except for the mean score of Verbal Reasoning (VR), which is comparable to a high rating based on the same scale. The quantitative mean grades for GPA and AGM are descriptively parallel to the students' satisfactory performance, but the mean grade of NBER is equivalent to average performance.The graduates taken per batch, class 1996, appeared the most homogenous among all graduates. It has the best overall performances not only in the NAT Subtests, but also in their GPA, NBER and AGM.As regards the relationship of the NAT subtests scores to the GPA, NBER and AGM, three of the NAT subtests scores, labeled as VR, NF and SHI substantially correlate to their distinct GPA, NBER and AGM. The SP test, however is an exception. It has a low association with GPA, NBER and AGM.On the predictive ability of the NAT subtests scores to ascertain the GPA, NBER and AGM, the NAT subtests specified as VR, NF and SHI are generally predictive of GPA. However, SP is not only a non-predictor. It is even a negative factor against the respondents' academic performance.The predictors of NBER are VR, NF, SHI and SP. SP contributed the least in regression analysis.However, the NAT subtests, such as VR, NF and SP are predictors of academic performance in mathematics. Here, SHI is not a factor to ascertain positive accomplishment in mathematics.By and large, among the four NAT subtests, VR and NF are generally predictive of GPA, NBER and AGM. The two have acted as significant predictors. This conclusion strengthens an established theory that mathematical ability and language ability correlate highly with its other.