Influence of Goal Orientations on Doctoral Nursing Students' Capacity for Feedback Literacy

BACKGROUND: Feedback literacy is an essential skill set that supports practice improvement and professional growth in advanced practice nurses. Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students who focus on developing competence in writing-mastery goals-versus attaining a grade-performance goals-may exhibit a greater capacity for feedback literacy. This study explored whether mastery-oriented DNP students exhibit more feedback literacy behaviors compared with performance-oriented students in a scholarly writing course. METHOD: In an observational study, 20 DNP students completed the Achievement Goal Questionnaire-Revised (AGQ-R) and Feedback Literacy Behaviour Scale (FLBS). Data were analyzed using effect size calculations. RESULTS: Mastery-oriented students scored higher on all FLBS subscales, with medium to large effect sizes. CONCLUSION: Writing instructors who promote a mastery-oriented approach to learning to write can foster DNP students who are better able to give, receive, and use feedback to adopt self-reflective strategies and effect practice improvements.