Week 2 answers

Adult learning theory is the notion that adults learn differently than children/adolescents (Keating, 2014). Adults are more capable to self-direction and goal oriented, so they are more likely to learn if the material is relevant to them. The West Coast University Mission states “At WCU, we combine student-centric learning with leading-edge training opportunities to transform healthcare education”. Since WCU is a school aimed at adults who chose a specific profession, I feel that adult learning theory fits in well with WCU. What is effective with adult learning theory is that it works well with other theories such as cognitivism, leaving instructors with flexibility to utilize many different teaching methods (Keating, 2014).

Another learning theory is Transformative learning that states that education is achieved as a result of transforming one’s own perspective (Keating, 2014). Here, students “make their own interpretations rather than act on the on the judgments and beliefs of others”. I chose this one because a local Nursing school has a mission statement that states “We educate and transform nurses to practice in dynamic healthcare environments with diverse populations”. Transformative learning is appropriate here because the schools mission talks about diversity in patient population and the theory forces learners to make their own decisions based on their own experiences and not from others, ensuring the health care worker is able to treat each patient as their own individual entity.

 

Keating, S. (2014). Curriculum development and evaluation in nursing (3rd ed.). Springer Publishing LLC. https://online.vitalsource.com/books/9780826130280

The two learning theories I analyzed are metacognition and social cognitive learning.
I chose the learning theory of social cognitive learning due to the fact of it’s “emphasis of observing then modeling behaviors, attitudes, and emotional responses of others” (Keating, 2015). Bandura described that people are not driven by inner forces or controlled by outside stimuli, but instead function from interactions from cognitive, behavioral and environmental influences. Bandura also stated that most learning comes from one’s social environment. This very much applies to nursing, as a lot of the learning that student nurses do are from hands-on experiences. It comes from clinicals, simulation labs, and on the job. I strongly believe this is where simulation labs and clinical experiences are tied in the best to this theory.

I also chose the theory of metacognition due to its tie to the cognitive learning theory. Keating (2015) stated that it consists of one’s ability to assess their own skills, knowledge and learning. This allows for the the learning process to be monitored by assessing one’s level of understanding, along with evaluating its effectiveness and revising the teaching plan if necessary. This applies to the nursing curriculum as it allows for instructors/professors to assess learning along the way, instead of just teaching content and expecting students to understand it. It also allows for students to be involved in their own learning and truly understanding the material.

Reference

Keating, S. B. (2015). Curriculum development and evaluation in nursing (3rd ed.). Springer Publishing Company. 

Critical thinking is something that we as seasoned nurses often do automatically without even thinking about it. It’s a way of processing “if-then” scenarios utilizing our previous knowledge and experiences (Ghazivakili et al, 2014). I feel many of us would just call it “common sense”. As such, I feel it is difficult for some educators to teach “common sense”. I currently teach clinicals at a local nursing school and critical thinking is inherently part of the job. When I was in nursing school myself, I swore off the term and loathed it with a passion as I would always hear about it. Now that my role has transitioned to the other side of the podium, I now entirely understand why my previous instructors repeated it so much!

Here is how I attempt to integrate it into the curriculum: teach the basics then the more advanced concepts, give students the tools that are available to address such concepts, throw in random trainwreck scenarios and see how they apply their knowledge to deal with the scenarios. I have students think outside to box to find appropriate solutions to problems and predict further issues. As an example, I have students pretend they are nurses in “x” setting. Stable patients come in and every worst possible outcome happens, and I rack students’ brains to see how they would assess, intervene, and reassess.

Formally measuring critical thinking is often done through standardized testing such as NCLEX. A plethora of information and a problem is provided, and the student must sort through everything to disseminate the correct answer. But I personally have more fun quizzing students on hypothetical trainwreck patients to measure their critical thinking skills.

 

Ghazivakili, Z., Norouzi Nia, R., Panahi, F., Karimi, M., Gholsorkhi, H., & Ahmadi, Z. (2014). The role of critical thinking skills and learning styles of university students in their academic performance. Journal of advances in medical education & professionalism, 2(3), 95–102.

 In my opinion, critical thinking is one of the most important skills that nurses should have. I believe it is a crucial component of nursing education that must be part of any nursing curriculum. In my opinion, critical thinking is the ability to anticipate what may happen and what nursing interventions are required, based on the implementation of prior theoretical and clinical knowledge and practice. From my experience as a nursing instructor, it is not an easy skill to teach. Not only it requires time and practice, but also strong nursing knowledge. For example, when I teach simulation in obstetrics, at the beginning of the term, students have no or very minimal knowledge related to maternal-newborn nursing. When I ask questions that require complex solutions, students struggle and it is often ineffective. However, as the term continues and students cover more theoretical information in class and see real cases in clinicals, they are able to make the connection between theory, clinicals, and simulation and answer complex questions by using critical thinking. This is one of the things I just love to see throughout the term. I find it very effective to ask simple questions first and then lead with more complex questions and scenarios. This allows students to remember the material, implement it, and even anticipate what may happen to a specific patient and what interventions may be needed, based on a scenario. I measure and assess the student’s critical thinking by evaluating their answers and their hands-on interventions during their simulations in obstetrics. I also use the Creighton tool as part of my evaluation of their simulation. One of the things on that tool is the student’s ability to prioritize. Prioritization of intervention comes from critical thinking. After the simulation, we do a debriefing and go through the scenario. This also allows students to verbalize and demonstrate their critical thinking process. By having the debriefing, students also learn how to develop their critical thinking.

     According to Mejía et al. (2019), critical thinking is a set of abilities that includes making and judging deductions, identifying unstated or implicit assumptions, and seeking alternative explanations based on the information that is available. According to Keating (2015), critical thinking is an essential part of nursing curriculum planning. The author also states that metacognition, which is thinking about thinking, includes critical thinking and has an important place in nursing classrooms. Moreover, when faculty plans the curriculum, they need to plan how critical thinking will be integrated into the courses and their instructional designs. Nursing students must have critical thinking they apply prerequisite and nursing knowledge to the development of complex thinking skills. Critical thinking and problem-solving are important skills to have in the evolving healthcare system. One of the ways to encourage critical thinking is to provide positive responses and reinforcement (Keating, 2015).

                                                                                                                  References

Keating, S. B. (2015). Curriculum development and evaluation in nursing (Third). Springer Publishing Company.                                                                                
https://online.vitalsource.com/books/9780826130280Links to an external site.

Links to an external site.

Mejía, A., Mariño, J., & Molina, A. (2019). Incorporating perspective analysis into critical thinking performance assessments. British Journal of                                 Educational  Psychology, 89(3), 456–467.
https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12297

Links to an external site.