Transcript Practical uses for educational theory with today’s learners

uses for educational
theory with today’s
learners
Lori Candela, EdD, RN, FNP-BC, CNE
Associate Professor of Nursing
ATI Summit
April 2015
Session Objectives
1. Relate unique challenges of educating today's nursing
students.
2. Discuss the need to use educational theory in guiding
teaching practice.
3. Define the major theory paradigms of value in
educating today's students.
4. Apply selected educational theories to specific uses in
nursing classroom, clinical and laboratory settings.
Using theory in your teaching
practice takes…
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Vision
Patience
Intelligence
Perception
Discernment
Resourcefulness
Cooperative
Aim high
and move
forward!
Oh, the challenges…
• Nursing students today- so diverse
– % minority students up 10% from 2004-2012
– % male students has tripled since 1980
– #s of young nurses (age 23-26) ↑ since 2002
– Age ranges from 17 - 60 and beyond
– Vast differences in technology proficiency
• Digital natives and digital immigrants
Different generations of learners
• Baby boomers: ages 50+, work hard, seek
meaningful experiences, want acknowledgement
• Gen X: ages later 30-40’s: independent, work
toward specific goals, adding to “skill tool box”
• Millenial (Gen Y): ages 20- early 30’s: teamoriented, high achieving, seek immediate
feedback
More challenges…
• Great differences in
– Abilities (cognitive and physical)
– Culture
– Personal life experiences
– Past educational experiences
– Socioeconomic status
– Support systems
Challenges in education
• ↑ faculty productivity expectations
– ↓ available resources
• Constant new information
• Competition for students
• Competition for clinical sites
So…
• Need to be practical in thinking about how to
best facilitate learning in our students
• Using educational theory can help this make
sense
Teaching…think of your first day…
I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I
know better, I do better.
-Maya Angelou
Do you use educational theory?
• Novice educators
• "Failure to use a learning theory can affect the
outcomes of learning as there is a focus on
presentation of content rather than fully
engaging students"
Kala, Isaramalai & Pohthong 2010, p. 62)
• The role of your personal educational
philosophy
The need to use theory
• Informs teaching practice (understand the
whys of teaching and learning)
• Guides teaching practice (helps us plan what
we do as educators)
• Predicts (helps us anticipate best educational
practices based on what we know of our
students, environment and learning
outcomes)
It is a way to
about your teaching by using educational
Major educational paradigm # 1
• Behaviorism: behavior can be shaped and
reshaped based on arranging consequences or
rewards
– Learning is sequential, follows prescribe format
set by teacher
– Examples: technical skill demonstrations, nursing
care plans from prescribed templates
– Behavioral objectives: what student is expected to
do
Theory example from Behaviorism
• Conditions of learning theory (Gagne)
– Identified different categories of learning (ie. cognitive skills) Cognitive
learning instruction:
• Reception (gain learner attention)
• Expectancy (inform all of objective for the session)
• Retrieval (recalling prior related learning)
• Selective perception (introduce the stimulus)
• Semantic coding (learning guidance)
• Responding (learner performance)
• Reinforcing (giving feedback)
• Retrieval (performance assessment)
• Generalization (assisting retention)
Major educational paradigm # 2
• Cognitivism: gets into the mental processes of
learning
– Concerned with what/how one learns
– Mind as information processor and interpreter
– Mind uses schemas (knowledge units)
– Learning occurs from assimilation → accommodation
– Mental schema ↑ in # and complexity (schema
restructuring)
Theory example from Cognitivism
Information processing time
Note: filtering (rejection,
acceptance or
modification, occurs
along the way
Incoming
information
Sensory memory
(millisecondsseconds)
Working (shortterm) memory
(15-30 seconds)
Long-term
memory
can be
indefintie)
Major educational paradigm # 3
• Constructivism: involved with how one creates
meaning from experience
– Like cognitivism but also concerned with
environmental context and reflection
• Learning is constructed from experience and
reflection on those experiences
• Knowledge development is a process of
mental exploration, questioning, assessing
Theory example from
Constructivism
Equilibrium → Disequilibrium → Assimilation → Accommodation → Equilibrium
Major educational paradigm # 4
• Humanism: learning is about fulfilling one’s
own potential to become self-actualized
• Feelings & knowledge important, as is self
evaluation & self motivation
• Learning environment must be nonthreatening
• Values person as a whole
Theories from Humanism
• Watson’s Theory of Caring
• Knowles Adult Learning Theory
Theory examples from Humanism
Major elements of Watson’s Caring Theory
Carative factors
Transpersonal
care
relationship
Caring
occasion/caring
moments
Adult learning is experiential and
reflective
Review of Educational Theories in
Practice handout
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Cognitive learning theory
Constructivist learning theory
Social learning theory
Adult learning theory
Experiential learning thoery
Conclusion
• Examine your personal educational philosophy often
to see how and where it is reflected in your thinking
and your teaching
• Use educational theory in conceptualizing, designing,
executing and evaluating your learners
• Use aspects of theories that fit with you, your
learners, your environments, and program outcomes
and course objectives
Questions?
Thank you
Please feel free to contact me if you have any other feedback,
questions or would just like to talk about using theory in your
teaching practice.
Lori Candela
[email protected]
702-895-2443