Keywords
Creative Drama
Service Learning
Middle School Students
Nursing Education
Drama-Based Intervention
How to Cite
Abstract
Introduction. Drama-based education and service-learning have shown potential for promoting adolescents’ communication and socio-emotional competencies. This study aimed to examine changes in middle school students’ communication skills following a creative drama–based service-learning program and to explore the experiences of nursing students who implemented the program.
Methods. A single-group pretest–posttest quasi-experimental design was used. Nursing students delivered a 120-minute creative drama session to seventh- and eighth-grade students at a public middle school in Istanbul. The sample consisted of 81 students (M = 12.50, SD = 0.60; 53.1% female). Communication skills were assessed using the Communication Skills Scale (CSS) before and after the intervention. Nursing students’ experiences were explored through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis.
Results. Posttest CSS scores were higher than pretest scores (Z = −7.51, p < .001, r = .83). Female students had higher communication skills scores than male students (U = 546, p = .010, r = .33). Thematic analysis revealed six themes: personal growth, stronger communication awareness, reduced stage anxiety, improved teamwork, increased professional motivation, and initial challenges and suggestions for improvement.
Conclusion. Short-term creative drama–based service-learning programs may help enhance middle school students’ communication skills while also providing meaningful personal and professional learning experiences for nursing students.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Nurten Arslan Işık, Dılşa Azizoğlu Keleş, Aynur Aytekin Özdemir, Ayşe Okanlı, Merve İnan Budak, Nesrin İlhan, Furkan Keleş, Büşra Kütük Kurt, Özge Şanlıtürk