Learner-Centered Characteristics of Nurse Educators

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe the learner-centered teaching characteristics of nurse faculty who report using contemporary pedagogy. A secondary analysis of data collected by an international survey of nurse educators regarding pedagogical teaching approaches and strategies was used to answer the research questions. The study sought to: 1) describe characteristics emerging from faculty response, 2) make inferences from faculty responses regarding meaning, and 3) make inferences regarding the importance of the meaning to nursing. A qualitative research design was used to address the research question. Themes that emerged were placed under the concepts of power, role of teacher, responsibility of learner, and philosophy of evaluation guided by Weimer's (2002) conceptual framework of a learner-centered philosophy of teaching. Themes and meaning units derived from the study helped to generate textual and structure statements that represent the characterizations of learner-centered nurse educators.

Critical self-reflection for nurse educators: Now more than ever!

“…According to Kirpalani (2017) , the process of self-reflecting on the educator's teaching methods may be an effective supplement to evaluative quantitative measures that are already available, such as students’ evaluations. These may not truly reflect the efficacy of the teacher's interventions ( Vanacore & Pellegrino, 2019 ), however, self-reflection activities that consider students’ informal feedback have proven to be beneficial ( Greer et al, 2010 ).…”

Assessing Flipped Versus Traditional Classrooms: Is Flipping Really Better?

“…Traditionally, much of the research on the concept of the “flipped” classroom is rooted in business, education, and field and STEM classes such as occupational therapy, nursing, and engineering (Balzotti & McCool, 2016; Bernard, 2015; Greer, Pokorny, Clay, Brown, & Steele, 2010; Heyborne & Perrett, 2016; Koo et al, 2016). This would seemingly make sense because many of these types of courses might involve laboratory-type experiments in class.…”

Transitioning to concept-based teaching: A discussion of strategies and the use of Bridges change model

“…[10,20] Oftentimes, nursing faculty are dismayed in trying learnercentered approaches in fear that all content will not be covered, or students who are accustomed to lecture delivery method, may voice concerns about not being able to learn any other way, or not having the time outside of the classroom for additional classroom prep work. [21] With the call for recommended changes, many nursing programs have begun to implement curriculums that reflect the patient care needs of today's population and newer learner centered environments. Nursing programs have slowly transitioned from building their curriculum based on nursing grand theories and Tylerian focused behavioral objectives, to programs that are based on conceptual thinking.…”

“…If students are accustomed to being taught in other classes through traditional teacher centered delivery methods, then they will most likely be uneasy about being taught in a student-centered environment with minimal to no lecturing. [21] Students often voice complaints that they are paying to be taught and feel they cannot learn by many of the conceptual based approaches in the new curriculum. Therefore, conversations with deans and nursing directors should be more inclusive than directors and administrators inquiring as to how are things are going?…”