Abstract: Objective: To evaluate the effects of blended teaching on the course of functional experimentation. Methods: From March 2019 to December 2019, 178 undergraduate students from six classes of 2018 in The Department of Nursing, Fenyang College, Shanxi Medical University were selected as research participants. The six classes were numbered and three random Numbers were selected. A total of 90 students from the corresponding classes were enrolled in the experimental group. From March 2018 to December 2018, a total of 89 students from three classes of 2017 were randomly selected to be included in the control group by the same method. The control group adopted the traditional teaching method, and the experimental group adopted the blended teaching method based on the virtual simulation experiment platform. The experiment success rate, scores for the final exam and the Autonomous Learning Competencies Scale were used to evaluate the teaching effect. Results: The success rates of the experiment in the experimental group and the control group were 79.2% and 63.0%, respectively, with statistical significance (χ2=13.790, P<0.001); the scores for the final exam in the experimental group and the control group were (81.24±6.77) and (76.36±9.36), respectively, with statistical significance (t=3.991, P<0.001); as for the Autonomous Learning Competencies Scale, there was no statistical difference in the scores of each dimension between the two groups before the whole-year teaching began (P>0.05). After the whole-year teaching ended, the competency scores for self-management in the experimental group and the control group were (32.01±1.89) and (30.82±1.47), respectively; the competency scores for information were (33.53±1.95) and (31.99±2.12), respectively; the competency scores for learning cooperation were (29.79±1.58) and (22.26±3.34), respectively; the total competency scores were (95.33±3.35) and (85.07±3.47), respectively. All the differences were statistically significant (P<0.001). Conclusion: The blended teaching based on virtual simulation experiment platform can improve the experiment success rate and autonomous learning competencies of undergraduate nursing students.

Key words: functional experimentation; blended teaching; virtual simulation; nursing; autonomous learning competency