OBJECTIVE: to evaluate the use of simulators in teaching clinical eye examinations/evaluations. MATERIAL AND METHODS: experimental, randomized, and controlled study, involving 31 second-year undergraduate nursing students from a school in the interior São Paulo, Brazil. Data was collected between September and October of 2009, using previously validated instruments and after authorization from the University Ethics Committee. Subjects were divided into Group 1 (traditional teaching and use of lowfidelity simulator), and Group 2 (traditional teaching) for evaluation of the eyes. RESULTS: the number of right answers by subjects in theoretical questions increased after a dialogued, expositive class. In the practical eye clinical evaluation, the average percentage of right answers was 76±7 (Group 1) and 21±11 (Group 2) (p<0,01). CONCLUSION: The use of simulator was shown to be a facilitating strategy in the teaching-learning process
Teaching; Teaching materials; Nursing
