A Comparative SWOT Analysis of Nursing Curriculum–Assessment between China and Thailand

Abstract

The study addresses curriculum–assessment alignment issues in undergraduate nursing programs from a cross-national perspective, focusing on China and Thailand, amid the world’s calls for highly skilled professionals that are capable of thinking critically and demonstrating professional responsibility. Even though there is an increased interest in this field, empirical information about how the process of curriculum designing, teaching practices, and evaluation systems can align coherently is still scarce. This study uses the mixed methods approach to gather data from 100 respondents: students, graduates, lecturers, and clinicians using curriculum documents review, questionnaires, and SWOT analysis. While quantitative data were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics and Chi-Square tests, which helped to reveal any perception differences, qualitative techniques were used to identify patterns of alignment and differences depending on the context. The findings show similarities in program duration and adherence to competency criteria, but some major differences are evident in terms of curriculum focus, theory-practice integration, teaching approaches, and evaluation. Thailand shows better alignment due to the use of experiential learning and competency-based evaluation of practice, while China pays more attention to scientific principles and structure of the curriculum. Significant differences have been identified among different stakeholders concerning educational support, learning environment, and alignment of outcomes and evaluation.