Improving Student Motivation And Performance Are Improved With Active Learning And Student Centered Teaching Strategies

As the demand for nursing education grows and with the rapidly advancing roles of nursing, educators need to stay up-to-date. “Theory-based practice provides nurses with a perspective” (Parker, 2006, p.28). With the comprehension and use of educational theories, nursing educators can support student knowledge and development into practice. These theories are outlines of cohesive concepts and principals that describe, explain, or predict how people learn. Every one learns differently and as an educator you need to be familiarized with and open to the use of one or more combinations of theories to successfully teach adult learners in this ever changing health care system. This paper will highlight the use of Constructivist Learning Theory and its application to nursing practice.

Nursing students today are diverse with different learning styles. Nursing educators must shape students to become critical thinkers and there are a host of approaches for instructors to develop needed teaching skills (Kostovich et al., 2007). There are many models of education styles; one to fashion teaching after is from Kolb’s model in 1985 which suggests matching learning methods to teaching approaches. However, educators need to become proficient in identifying individual student learning styles. Nursing educators should also recognize their own teaching style and the effect it has on learner development and socialization (National League for Nursing, 2007). The National League for Nursing (NLN) has developed eight core

Issues such as staff shortage, increased workload, staff feeling threatened by the student nurses, and poor teaching skills can contribute to students not feeling supported (Burns and Paterson, 2005). Nursing students had identified that anxiety as their main concern in the research done by Masoumi and Sharif (2005). The unfamiliarity of tending for patients and worrying of making mistakes during the clinical attachment are the factors that students feel anxious. Mentor can diminish anxiety by utilizing simulation, where genuine case studies and scenarios are being simulated and roles and responsibilities of student nurse are being discussed (Burns and Paterson, 2005).Gradual encouragement in helping student nurse to gain control over their own learning may aid to construct their confidence which will reduce their

“While you may not realize it, you are helping to exemplify many of the reasons that we are going back to school for our BSN’s. Because higher learning really does improve our nursing practice and cultivate the learning culture of nurses in our institutions.

With the increasing demands in Healthcare needs, newly licensed competent nurses are a commodity that simply do not exist. Every year there are new nurses graduating from associate and bachelor’s degree programs that enter the work force. Nursing students whom complete their degree program, whether it be an associates or bachelor degree sit to take the same state sanctioned nursing licensure exam. Upon successful completion of this exam a student quickly transitions from student to professional, in as little as two days, and is now deemed competent to practice safely and effectively. Unfortunately for new nurses whom enter the workforce, they are subjected to an environment that nursing schools simply cannot simulate accurately, and therefore not prepare students for. New nurses are expected to come out of school, especially by the patients they tend to, with competencies that are unrealistic. The reality is that new nurses lack skills that allow them to perform at a truly competent level. What this paper will discuss are the competencies that new graduate nurses enter the work force with compared to what is actually required in order to be proficient in this professional field. This paper will also discuss how the transition from student to professional can be facilitated through extensive orientation programs that have been proven to elevate nurses from novice to professional.

As a first semester nursing student my journey into developing nursing skills has just begun,

within my clinical environment. I will address the questions that I encountered due to this experience and how my current nursing classes helped me deepen my understanding of what I have learned this semester. I will also discuss two nursing BNURs and how they are related to this experience and analysis how this event has helped me grow as a student nurse.

Looking at a past study done before the team began their own study they found that junior nursing student (second year bachelor students) and other level of nursing students using the simulation method of teaching had improvements in their critical thinking, clinical performance, and improved conceptualization of clinical nursing. This team modeled their study

of Canberra, found that because first year nursing students are opportunistic learners, they are more likely to reflect upon valuable, long-lasting lessons when they feel actively engaged in both positive and negative experiences in their clinical practice. These authors acknowledge three learning triggers which they found enhance the student’s clinical education: active participation in care, emotional confrontation within themselves, and interacting with registered nurses who caused them to contemplate how they would present themselves as professional nurses. Grealich and Ranse suggest further research using a larger scale of second and third year nursing students who attend various institutions as they recognize the limited number of participants from a single institution as a weakness in their study; they also,

I once heard someone say, “Find something you love to do and you’ll always be successful.” If you want to be in a field where you are continually learning, nursing would be the top pick. This paper will reflect the journey I have taken from Registered Nurse (RN) to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) with the incorporation of my learning objectives from my clinical course.

In an article written by Vasiliki Aidinopoulou and Demetrios G. Sampson, the flipped classroom design was examined and discussed (2017). It was through this article that the concept of “The Flipped Classroom” allows students to view material prior to a classroom instruction, allowing them to move along to higher levels of thinking and applying the theories (Aidinopoulou & Sampson, 2017). This application helps educators use classroom time for active learning with feedback and scaffolding of ideas (Aidinopoulou & Sampson, 2017). The application of flipped classroom for nursing is interesting as it helps educators enhance the material by applying it to the real world (Harrington, Vanden Bosch, Schoofs, Beel-Bates, & Anderson, 2015). This allows more active learning, engaging the student which in turn has shown “improved academic performance, improved critical thinking skills, and better attitudes toward learning” (Harrington, Vanden Bosch, Schoofs, Beel-Bates, & Anderson, 2015,

Significant instruction be capable of gain as of knowledgeable coaches. Passionate support can likewise be given by shaping a decent relationship between the tutor and the mentee. “The socialization of the novice practitioner to the alien learning environment is crucial in the development of student nurses. Mentors play a big role in the socialization process, not only from a behavioral or professional perspective, but also from a role-model aspect as well, whereby aspiring nurses can imitate the ‘good nurse’, the nurse that the student will one day hope to become: ‘I want to be a nurse like her/him’ (Vinales, 2015,

The nursing workforce and nursing education demographic trends reinforce the urgency to promote future nursing leaders, educators, and mentors. Peer mentoring has been used successfully in nursing education to enhance student engagement and the quality of the student learning experience. Although various terms like peer mentor have been used to describe the role of senior students facilitating junior student learning, the literature is silent about how peer mentoring fosters the development of future nursing education leaders (Rosenau, P. A., Lisella, R. F., Clancy, T. L., & Nowell, L. S. (2015). Growth in the demand for nurses is fueling current and projected nursing shortages, as patient populations grow older, sicker and more complex at the same time that the age of currently employed nurses continues to increase.

In nursing education, the literature shows that nursing students need to be critical thinkers and life-long learners for successful practice in the nursing profession. These thinking and learning skills are associated with utilizing some aspect of the self-directed learning theory in nursing practice

I am not new to the role of nurse or educator, but to the role of nursing educator. My motivation to teach future generations of nurses prompted my transition from a clinical nurse to an academic nurse educator. My interest in teaching comes from my own positive experiences as an undergraduate student and from a love of learning. My educational philosophy is a work in progress as I continue to grow as a nurse, educator, and scholar of nursing education. As a novice nursing educator today, I plan on progressing to the path of an expert. The purpose of this paper is to express my educational philosophy in terms of teaching and learning, teaching and learning strategies, student learning goals, and the learning environment.