Development of a Massive Open Online Course in Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing for Nursing Students

Abstract

This research and development study aimed to develop a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) teaching Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing and to examine its effectiveness. The course developers consisted of ten nursing instructors with more than six years of teaching experience teaching Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing courses, selected through purposive sampling. The sample group included 174 third-year nursing students from three educational institutions, selected through simple random sampling. Research instruments included a knowledge test, an online learning behavior questionnaire, and a satisfaction questionnaire regarding the MOOC on the Thai MOOC platform. The index of item-objective congruence ranged from 0.67 to 1.00, and the reliability coefficients were 0.74, 0.94, and 0.96, respectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test. The results revealed that the developed MOOC consisted of seven lessons incorporating video-based instruction and online learning materials. Post-test knowledge scores (Median = 35, IQR = 7) were significantly higher than pre-test scores (Median = 22, IQR = 10.50) (Z = –11.09, p < 0.001). The students demonstrated frequent online learning behaviors (𝑥̅ = 4.12, S.D. = 0.65) and reported the highest level of satisfaction with the course (𝑥̅ = 4.47, S.D. = 0.58). The study concluded that the MOOC developed via the Thai MOOC platform effectively enhanced nursing students’ knowledge, promoted positive learning behaviors, and resulted in high satisfaction. Therefore, integrating this MOOC with conventional teaching methods is recommended to further improve learning outcomes.