To our knowledge, this is the first published, transparent, formulaic time-allocation tool for nursing education exam preparation grounded in utilitarian learning theory. Nursing education has shifted to flipped classroom, asynchronous, and self-directed learning after the COVID-19 pandemic. Nursing educators must meet the increasing demands of these new learning methods by exploring practical ways of improving nursing student education and learning. The Deficiency-Time Allocation (DTA) model has been developed as a formulaic strategy to improve self-directed study guidance. A bioethical utilitarian framework guided the formulation of DTA, grounded in three bodies of research: 1) the relationship between study time and performance, 2) Mastery Learning, and 3) Deliberate Practice. DTA guides a learner on how many hours of studying they should allocate to topic deficiencies based on the hours that learner has available. The conceptual justification of this tool has been reviewed by experts, with mathematical verification and face validity. The next steps are empirical validation, feasibility, and acceptability.
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