The essay discusses teaching and learning theories/practices that tend to help individuals learn new behaviors and actions. Learning theories are theoretical frameworks explaining how knowledge is acquired, processed, and used in learning. Cognitive, expressive, and environmental stimuli, as well as previous experience, all form part of how understanding or a worldview is acquired or changed and how knowledge and skills are retained (Aliakbari et al., 2015). Some of the theories mentioned include accommodating learning styles as well as an experimental learning cycle. The main body discusses the teaching/learning process that we undertook while measuring the blood pressure of a patient diagnosed with hypertension using blood-pressure screening equipment. In various clinics around the globe, blood pressure can be measured manually using an apparatus known as a sphygmomanometer, with a computerized electronic device, or through ambulatory blood-pressure monitoring. It is frequently best to measure blood pressure with an empty bladder and with the patient properly positioned, legs resting on the ground, and arms resting comfortably on a table. Blood pressure tends to be measured in both arms using arm cuffs for accuracy.
My justification for choosing this philosophical facet is that some patients identified with mental illness sometimes tend to face the risk of mounting physical health ailments, such as hypertension, because of their lifestyle. The assessment of the patient’s blood pressure and the teaching session took place inside the room, thereby maintaining dignity (NMC, 2015). It is the responsibility of every healthcare professional to carry out necessary physical-health checks on patients and to be able to deliver appropriate interventions (Knowles et al., 2014). In addition, it includes giving guidance as required in the management of physical-health conditions such as hypertension in patients under their care in order to ensure the effective management and treatment of such health disorders. In the case of a patient with hypertension, checks are carried out to ensure consistent blood-pressure levels and the control and management of hypertension. I performed all the explained processes above with the permission of the nurse in command to assist the first-year student who happened to lack real confidence in completing the task alone. The reason for her inability to perform the task independently was that she was not used to the situation, since she had just been admitted to college for a nursing course.
Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle
According to Kolb, there are four learning stages: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. The concrete experience involves having a new experience or else reinterpretation of existing experience (Kolb, 2014). Reflective observation depends on the new experience and reveals inconsistencies between experience and understanding. On the other hand, abstract conceptualization modifies an abstract concept. Lastly, active experimentation helps the learner to solve situations around the world.
Accommodating learning styles rely on intuition instead of logic. In this case, a nurse will use the analysis of other people and prefer an experiential or practical approach. They have challenges that they encounter while carrying out their duties. It is more of instinct rather than logical analysis.
Behaviorist Cognitive and Constructivist Theories
Behaviorists view learning as a feature of conditioning and promote a system of rewards and objectives in education. Educators who embrace cognitive theory believe that describing learning as a change in behavior is too narrow and prefer to study the learner rather than the environment, particularly the complexities of personal memory (Sequeira, 2012). Those who support constructivism believe that a learner’s ability to learn depends greatly on what they already know and understand, and the attainment of knowledge should be an individually tailored process of construction. Transformative erudition theory emphasizes the often-necessary variation that is required in a novice’s preconceptions and worldview. Topographical learning theory efforts on the ways in which milieus and environments outline learning development (Hayes 2016).
The social learning model is a philosophy of learning and social behavior that suggests that new practices are assimilated by observing and emulating others. It shapes that education is a cognitive development that takes dwelling in a social perspective and can transpire purely through surveillance or direct instruction, even in the absenteeism of motor facsimile or immediate reinforcement. In addition to the observation of conduct, learning also befalls through the representation of booties and punishments, a development known as mediated reinforcement (Hinchliff 2009). When a specific behavior is rewarded repeatedly, it will most probably persist; contrariwise, if a particular practice is penalized continuously, it will most likely discontinue. The theory inflates old behavioral approaches, in which behavior is administered solely by cavalries, by placing prominence on the crucial title role of various interior processes in the learning distinct.
Teaching Practice in Nursing Education
Moving on, teaching, as defined, is the process of aiding other individuals in attaining knowledge and aids to take on specific tactics and responsibilities without any exertion. It agreed with these societal assessments and defined teaching as a set of proceedings outside the apprentices that considered supporting the internal practice of learning. However, attaining teaching skills is undoubtedly of excellent reputation in nursing courses, as it may be educating a patient on how to undertake a precise task by himself or herself or teaching another associate or student nurse skills. An illustration is teaching a patient or associate how to custom the blood pressure monitor, to ration blood pressure. Unlike teaching, learning is definite as a process by which a comparatively stable adjustment in stimulus-response relations is established because of functional environmental collaboration via the senses. This close connotation between teaching and learning impresses the manner in which coaching is provided in either an exercise setting or classroom setting.
According to Hayes (2016), it is of moderate significance to recognize each person’s attributes and necessities, as this is very significant if learning is to be efficacious. In the scenario, the learning theories acknowledged were Social learning, cognitive development, behaviorism, Stimulus – Response, Learning to think, and Humanists, the dynamic nature of the learner. In the adoption of social learning theory, the student (1st year) was able to acquire through observation and learning to think. By observing me accomplish the task, she was ready to reiterate the actions I seized and was competent to demonstrate the technique successfully throughout the second endeavor. She went further to report that she was thrilled to have learned a new ability, which made her self-assured, sanctioned, and inspired, which in turn occasioned her offering to execute a similar task on a different patient. Therefore, she efficaciously applied the social learning theory, whereas I supervised her, and this resulted in the development of her related skills.
The practicality of social learning, when functional to nursing teaching, is of obvious importance and significance. As a practical learning tool, social learning promotes transparency (Cherry and Jacob, 2016). The humanistic model is centered more on the student, and the approach is easy to apply in nursing because of the dynamic nature of the learner. This was exhibited when she expressed anxiety when the clinical nurse in charge asked her to validate the whole blood pressure measuring process. Throughout the teaching incident, I ensured that I came across as friendly, gracious, and inspirational and simultaneously created an enabling atmosphere for learning. Studies have revealed that methods of learning are meticulously associated with the realization of the learner with their learning situation, as learners are self-directed and educators are implementers. Measuring the patient’s blood pressure and teaching sessions took place confidentially in a room, thereby perpetuating the patient’s self-esteem and, at the same time, endorsing stimulating and contented surroundings. The student felt safe and self-confident in her abilities due to the supportive role that I played during the learning episode, in line with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
In my case, an assessment of the learning event recognized that my mentor used a primarily social learning theory style of teaching, with a behavioral-cognitive learning dissertation. According to Kolb (1984), social learning theory, also identified as observational learning, is frequently seen in nurse education and, though created on behaviorism, emphasizes the role of internal cognitive processes. My tutor’s social learning theory method was perceived through their practice of modeling conduct and observation within a communal context, the supposition that my conduct would change, and the consideration of my inner intellectual processes by assessing remembrance, understanding, and presentation.
It suggests that four constituent processes determine the developmental outcomes of a social observational learning event. The ‘Attention’ progression involves the accurate perception of the occasion and the courtesy paid to important structures of the modeled behavior, Masika and Jones (2016). During the learning event, I used a ‘transmission’ teaching model to convey knowledge, skills, and attitudes, although this system may render the adult learner too passive. Theoretician learning preference was advantageous and encouraged the first-year student’s responsiveness as she acquired the best from observation and appraisal, took an investigative approach, and made new acquaintances with an existing acquaintance. Additionally, having a trusted association with the student reduced the potential skirmish, and I feared that I would be bidden to take an ‘active’ role. Conversely, there was a risk that she would not be able to identify which behaviors to pay attention to, and my learning may have been enhanced by having prior awareness of the theory to structure the event and permit greater critical thinking (Common and Maslin-Prothero, 2010). The next stage, in theory, is the ‘Retention’ process that involves the person’s memory of the exhibited behavior and its figurative coding from interim to permanent retention. As a Reflector philosopher, the Retention process supplemented my desired style and fixed learned behaviors by vocally verifying model manners and thought procedures and making associations with my general knowledge through replication reinforced my learning. My learning tends to enhance with symbolic spoken and imaginal practice to facilitate more profound learning and the opportunity to give and take views with others to deliberate different perceptions, such as the amenity user (Taylor, 2017). Whereas reflection improved, the tacit ‘values’ acquaintance, as a Theorist, my unambiguous ‘skills’ knowledge may have urbanized with more justification behind the inquisitorial technique.
The ‘Reproduction’ process involves converting symbolic representations into action and a period of self-corrective adjustment in response to feedback. During the learning event, the ‘reproduction’ procedure was not facilitated, which challenges the effectiveness of the learning event, as the transition from surface to deep learning is not automatic but rather the result of exposure to numerous applications. It suggests that feedback, repetition, and modification are key for reflective learners (Council, 2008). Additionally, as an adult learner, she was empowered to seek out ‘reproduction’ opportunities given the decent connotations of ‘trialing’ new abilities with service consumers and her cautious reflector learning panache.
The last process, in theory, is the ‘Motivation’ process, which is essential for effective modeling in the medical learning environment and comprises intrinsic and exterior factors such as individual standards and rewards. The role-model figure is a significant part of learning from behaviorism, as behaviors are more likely to be adopted if the role model has a respected status (Thomas and Simpson, 2014). Throughout the learning involvement, the student was intrinsically inspired to learn by being tentatively challenged, and as the upshot of an unconscious craving for corroboration through constructive strengthening, she held me in high prestige. Furthermore, I had a beneficial stimulus on my learning involvement as they held a strong sense of self-efficacy and certainty that I could appreciate the learning objective. Nevertheless, the learning experience was profoundly reliant on my ‘expert opinion’ of myself, and as a Reflector Theorist, the overview and discussion of alternative tactics may have enhanced her learning.
As a qualified nurse, I need to recognize that observations from my peers and officers in charge are vital because they assist me in actively learning new skills. I learned that mentoring and learning go hand in hand, as no one is competent at a hundred-percent level; thus, one needs to have a more qualified role model in the institution. It is indispensable that students take responsibility for their learning, uninterruptedly striving to advance their practice and abilities in preparation for qualification. This can best be attained by obtaining the response from mentors and expanding this to figure out and enhance exercise (Blais, 2015). It is the accountability of mentors to deliver this constructive feedback to assist students in identifying their ongoing learning requests for meaningful involvement. For the current learning experience, an action plan between the mentor and the student should be formulated with practical and achievable goals.
In conclusion, therefore, the essay shows teaching and learning theories/ practices that tend to help individuals learn new behaviors and deeds. Several theories have been discussed which are theoretical frameworks recitation how knowledge is captivated, processed, and engaged in learning. The practicality of social learning, when functional to nursing teaching, is of obvious importance and significance. The theory of Motivation shows the process that is essential for effective modeling in the medical learning environment and comprises intrinsic and exterior factors such as individual standards and rewards. Another theory discussed includes the ‘Reproduction’ progression which involves the changeover of symbolic depictions into action and a period of self-corrective alteration responding to a response. Cognitive, expressive, and environmental stimuli, as well as preceding experience, all compose a part of how understanding, or a worldview, tends to be acquired or changed and acquaintance and skills recollected.
Lesson Plan
| Date: | Time: 0900hrs | Duration: I hour | ||
| Course: Teaching and learning | Topic: Blood pressure | |||
| Year | No. of Students: 1 | |||
| Aims |
| Effectively measure blood pressure in patients |
| Outcomes |
By the end of the session, the student will have acquired knowledge of the following:
|
| A brief summary of the content |
| The teaching session introduces the first-year student to the process of measuring blood pressure and recording it in the appropriate charts in the health facility. |
| TIME | MENTOR ACTIVITY | STUDENT ACTIVITY |
| One hour | The mentor was to spend a specific period explaining the apparatus to the student and how it is used efficiently. | The student carefully observed my procedure and asked questions about what she did not understand. Later, she performed the task alone on a different patient |
| Lesson Evaluation |
| As the mentor, I ensured necessities were met earlier, commencing the episode and going to an unoccupied room put the student in comfort, hence providing a comfortable learning environment. The student appreciated the efforts made to determine her preferred learning style, which made her feel valued and respected, while I remained committed to supporting her learning needs. The student was pleased to work collaboratively with me, nurturing a positive relationship while formulating a lesson plan that met her needs. It provided her with the best chance to learn the skill effectively, retain it, and reproduce it in the future with minimal support. |
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