After reading Bill Kerr's blog dated January 01, 2007 I started thinking about the importance of learning theories. I have to agree with Bill that "each _ism is offering something useful without any of them standing alone". In my nursing classes there are times when behaviorism is appropriate, other times cognitivism is an appropriate learning theory to guide the student instruction. For example, when I am teaching nursing skills, it is appropriate to teach using behaviorist principles. In doing so, step-by-step sequences can be quickly learned by students, and monitored and observed by faculty. Other times, behaviorist theory is not appropriate and the cognitivist theory is best suited such as when problem solving concepts need to be enhanced. We are reaching the end of a bed-based health care system and moving toward a high-tech outpatient based health care system. As nursing faculty I have a responsibility to prepare my students for a complex health care system that requires them to be critical thinkers. Karl Kapp stated in his blog on January 02, 2007, learning is "multi-layered" and "multi-faceted" and there are "too many levels for one school of thought or one model to do it all". I couldn't agree more.
Kapp, K. (2007, January 2). Re: Out and about: Discussion on educational schools of thought [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://karlkapp.blogspot.com/2007/01/out-and-about-discussion-on-educational.html
Kerr, B. (2007, January 1). Re: _isms as filter not blinker [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/01/isms-as-filter-not-blinker.html
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Yes, It seems we go along, selecting theories and technologies according to what works best for a given task or purpose.
ReplyDeleteKerr seems to indicate that educational theories are still very much a work in progress. If that's the case, I'm very happy to be part of it!
Bill
Good post. I think it's great that you are in nursing. That is a hard job. I know even our professions overlap in places, just as do the theories. I concur that Kapp's blog was straight to the point. Deb :)
ReplyDeleteI agree, you said it is your job to prepare your students to be able to handle being out there in the field. But more importantly it is our job as educators to prepare ourselves to effectively teach these practices by having knowledge of different theories and learning styles. As you said, not one is appropriate for every learning objective, but if you are not aware of the different stratigies you are not able to differentiate. I think as educators we sometimes get so wrapped up in making sure students are prepared we forget we must do the same for ourself. Good post.
ReplyDeleteLatoya
Latoya,
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that we must prepare our students for the real world. Teachers definitely need to make sure that they are prepare to instruct students. I consider myself blessed to work in a district that promotes professional development. The opportunities to learn how to perform better in this calling are out there. It is up to each educator to take advantage of those opportunities.
--Montario
You post makes a lot of common sense when it comes to the step by step procedural guidelines, especially in nursing. But I am curious. If medicine is procedural as is the diagnosis, it is possible that something can be missed if you just stick to the procedures? Just speaking hypothetically, if you have a patient that has standard symptoms that are being caused by a non-standard illness, how does one compensate with the differences. Sure the tests can say one thing but what if the test are inconclusive. teaching can have some of the same perils with non-standard students. Your thoughts?
ReplyDeleteDJH
Connecting the student or client to the real world to help them understand any piece of new knowledge is essential. Treating everyone the same simply won't work. In addition, just when we might think we have a handle on what might work best with a particular person, they change on us!
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