Theories In Nursing Education and Teaching and Learning Concept

Theoretical Foundations of Teaching and Learning, Learning Theories In Nursing Education, Behavioral Learning Theories In Nursing Education, Premise Behavioral Learning Theories, Implications of Behavioral Learning Theories In  Nursing Education, Cognitive Learning Theories In Nursing Education, Premise Cognitive Learning Theories, Implications of Cognitive Learning Theories Nursing Education.

Theoretical Foundations of Teaching and Learning

Teaching is a complex undertaking
that must always consider the learner, the intended learning outcome, the
environment in which it will occur, and how it will be known if learning has
indeed occurred. Central to these is the learner. The learners who enter
nursing programs are diverse in every way imaginable. They differ from one
another in previous education, work, and life experiences and in gender, age,
ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, social support systems, learning
style, language, and technological abilities. Each comes with his or her own
motivations and expectations. Some may appear disinterested in the class and
may have difficulty achieving the expected learning outcomes. The seven
principles of good practice in undergraduate education proposed by Chickering
and Gamson (1987) addressed this and articulated concepts for teachers to use
in their teaching such as learner activity, cooperation, interaction, and
responsibility. Adding to the complexity of teaching and learning are changing
societal demographics and trends, the constant influx of new information in
health care, and the practice of education. Clearly, to teach effectively, the
teacher must also continue to learn. This makes the use of educational theories
to explain, guide, and even predict teaching practice an imperative. Theory
helps to explain the “whys” of the teaching–learning process, thus allowing for
a more direct influence on the learner. Applying a theory in the practice of
teaching provides a way of understanding these complex learners and the
learning processes within the context of escalating new information and the
rapid pace of health care change. This understanding is prerequisite for making
decisions regarding what concepts and content to include in the curriculum or
course, sequencing of learning experiences, and determining learner involvement
and methods for assessment and evaluation. Taking the time to consider various
theories and applying them as a regular part of the practice of teaching can
result in improved learning outcomes and greater learner engagement. This  topic provides an overview of selected teaching–learning theories, their primary
premise, and implications for use. 

Learning Theories In Nursing Education

Learning theories explain the
complex nature of the interaction of students with their faculty, the learning
environment, and the subject matter. Learning theories are descriptive in that
they focus on and describe the processes used to bring about changes in either
the way in which students perform or the way in which they understand or
organize elements in their environment. Learning theories provide the structure
that guides the selection of instructional strategies and student-centered
learning activities. Faculty’s beliefs about learning provide the assumptions
that underlie the approaches used in their teaching. Being cognizant of various
theories is a prerequisite to effective teaching. When choosing theories to
use, faculty must consider those that support the school philosophy, meet
student learning needs, and complement their teaching preferences Learning
theories derive from work in a variety of fields such as philosophy,
educational psychology, higher education, and, recently , neuroscience. In this
topic the learning theories are categorized by their paradigms. These include
behavioralist, cognitivist, and constructivist views of learning, as well as
those derived from humanistic approaches, interpretive pedagogies, human
development theories, and the emerging field of neuroscience.

Behavioral Learning Theories In Nursing Education

Ivan Pavlov and Edward Thorndike
established the roots for behaviorism in the late nineteenth century with their
systematic, scientific investigation of how animals and human beings learn
(Hilgard & Bower, 1966). This work provided the basis for what became known
as behavioral psychology. According to Skinner’s (1953) principles of operant
conditioning, the focus is on arranging consequences for learner behavior. A
behavior is strengthened or weakened in response to positive or negative
consequences. Positive consequences are referred to as reinforcers because they
strengthen or increase the frequency of behaviors, whereas negative
consequences weaken the behavior by not reinforcing it (Slavin, 1988). Complex
behaviors are acquired by shaping them by providing reinforcement.
Reinforcement is an essential condition for learning because reinforced
responses are remembered. Building on the evolving science of behaviorism,
Mager (1962) developed a model for writing highly prescriptive behavioral
objectives that consists of three components: specification of the behavior to
be acquired, conditions under which the behavior is to be demonstrated, and the
criteria for how well the behavior is to be performed. Prominent nurse
educators of the 1970s and 1980s who adopted the behavioral paradigm into their
works included Bevis, deTornyay, and Reilly. During this time, many programs in
nursing education made extensive use of the principles of behaviorism.

Premise Behavioral Learning Theories

The main premise of behavioral
learning theories is that all behavior is learned; it can be shaped and
rewarded to achieve appropriate and desired ends

Implications of Behavioral Learning Theories In  Nursing Education

Principles of behaviorism are used
in classrooms, clinical settings, and learning resource centers. The
organization of instruction is directed by behavioral objectives and learning
outcomes that can be specified, and behavior can be observed and measured.
Behaviorist principles are appropriate for structured situations in which the
objectives can be clearly established in a step-by-step sequence and the
desired behavior can be defined, quickly learned, and observed. In the
behavioralist paradigm, faculty facilitate the learning environment by
designing the learning experience (eg, simulations, skills demonstrations) and
offer positive reinforcement through ongoing feedback. Faculty’s focus is on
what the student is doing correctly while making suggestions for improving
incorrect behavior. Student attainment of learning goals is monitored by
looking for behavior patterns demonstrated over a period. Students use the
behavioral objectives or competence statements as a guide for what is to be
learned. Students work to achieve and demonstrate the desired behavior and plan
the time needed to practice as much as necessary to attain the desired
behavior. Student motivation for achievement is obtained from the tangible
rewards that reinforce the desired behavior.

Cognitive Learning Theories In Nursing Education

Cognitive learning theories focus
on the internal learner environment and the mental structures of thinking. The
initial focus on the cognitive aspects of learning is attributed to the work of
the Gestalt psychologists during the early 1900s. Gestalt psychologists believe
that people respond to whole situations or patterns rather than to parts.
Insight is an important concept in Gestalt psychology. Insight, or the “aha”
phenomenon, is a matter of perception that is explained as a procedure of
mental trial and error that results in a solution. When a person’s perceptual
field is disorganized, order is imposed by restructuring problems into a better
gestalt (pattern); the may restructuring occur through a process of trial and
error. Lewin (1951) believed that because human beings have a basic need to
bring order to the situation, the motivation to learn is stimulated by the
ambiguity or chaos perceived in the situation. Cognitive psychology has several
perspectives and approaches that try to explain particular aspects of human
behavior (Weinstein & Meyer, 1991). Other theorists associated with
cognitive learning theory are Anderson (1980, 1985), Ausubel (1960, 1978),
Tulving (1985), and Wittrock (1977, 1986).

Premise Cognitive Learning Theories

Cognitive theorists focus on and
emphasize the mental processes and knowledge structures that can be inferred
from behavioral indices. Cognitive learning theorists are concerned with the
mental processes and activities that mediate the relationship between stimulus
and response; the learner selects from stimuli in the environment according to
his or her own internal structures (Grippin & Peters, 1984; Slavin, 1988).
Cognitive theorists seek the factors that explain complex learning; they are
concerned with meaning rather than behavior. In cognitive systems of learning,
behavior is not automatically strengthened by reinforcers; the reinforcers
provide affective and instructional information. The specific focus is on
mental processes that include perception, thinking, knowledge representation,
and memory, with emphasis on understanding and acquisition of knowledge and not
merely on acquiring a new behavior or learning how to perform a task.
Information processing is an important aspect of cognitive learning. In this theory,
memory is viewed as a complex organized system in which information is
processed through three components of the memory system: sensory register,
short-term memory, and long-term memory. The goal of learning is to practice
information for retention in short-term memory so that the information will
move to long-term memory for later recall and use. Cognitive theories define
learning as an active, cumulative, constructive process that is goal oriented
and dependent on the learner’s mental activities. Learning is an internal event
in which modification of the existing internal representations of knowledge
occurs. Learning is processing information; it is experiential and formed by a
person’s experience of the consequences.

Implications of Cognitive Learning Theories Nursing Education

In a cognitivist approach to
learning, students have active rather than passive roles in the instruction and
a new responsibility for learning. Faculty emphasis is on developing students
in how to think (Torre, Daley, Sebastian, & Elnicki, 2006). It is not the
transfer of information that results in learning; rather, students must
discover meaning by using information processing strategies, memories, and
attentional and motivational mechanisms to organize and understand it
(Wittrock, 1992).