Brains and Bytes: Enhancing Cranial Nerve Assessment Through Teacher-Guided vs. Computer-Assisted Instruction in Nursing Education

Objectives To compare the effectiveness of teacher-guided instruction (TGI) and computer-assisted instruction (CAI) on knowledge and psychomotor skills related to cranial nerve assessment among undergraduate nursing students, and to determine the relationship between post-test knowledge and skill scores. Material and Methods A quasi-experimental pre-test post-test control group design was adopted among 75 second-year B.Sc. Nursing students were selected using purposive sampling and randomly allocated into three groups: TGI (n=25), CAI (n=25), and Control (n=25). Data were collected using a validated structured knowledge questionnaire (CVI = 0.92) and an observational skills checklist (CVI = 0.89). Interventions included a 45-minute teacher-guided session for Group I and a 15-minute animated CAI module for Group II, while the control group received routine curriculum-based teaching. Statistical analysis was performed using paired t-tests, independent t-tests, Chi-square, and Pearson correlation. Results Both TGI and CAI significantly improved students’ knowledge and skills compared to the control group. TGI demonstrated superior effectiveness, with excellent post-test performance of 72% in both knowledge and skills, compared to 40% in the CAI group. The mean post-test knowledge score was significantly higher in the TGI group (12.04 ± 2.42) than in the CAI group (9.96 ± 2.40), with a mean difference of 2.08 (p = 0.004). Similarly, skill scores were higher for TGI (11.8 ± 2.56) compared to CAI (9.72 ± 2.17), with a mean difference of 2.08 (p = 0.003). A strong positive correlation (r = 0.688; p