Module 2: The Role Learning Plays

in the Practice Education Experience

Approximate time to complete module: 15 minutes

Objectives
Understand the impact of personal learning style on learning in practice Understand and use the learning cycle to facilitate learning in students and strengthen your teaching techniques

Develop strategies to model and foster reflective activities to heighten student learning
Understand and integrate principles of adult learning within your preceptor experience

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Four Principles of Adult Learning

Adults are autonomous and self-directed. Adults need to be free to direct themselves. Involve them in the learning process. Get their perspectives about topics and projects that reflect their interest. Allow learners to assume responsibility for presentations and group leadership. Adults have accumulated a foundation of life experiences and knowledge including work, family and previous education. Connect learning and draw out the experiences and knowledge relevant to the topic. Adults are relevancy oriented. Adults must see a reason for learning something. Learning has to be applicable to their work or responsibilities to be of value. Identify objectives before the course begins. Theories and concepts must be related to a familiar setting. Adults are practical. Focus on the aspects of a lesson most useful to their work. They may not be interested in knowledge for its own sake.
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Applying the Principles

Adults are autonomous and self-directed:
Guide participants rather than supplying them with facts.

Adults have accumulated a foundation of life experiences and knowledge:

Recognize the value of experience in learning.

Adults are relevancy oriented:

Let participants choose projects that reflect their own interests.

Adults are practical:

Be explicit in how the lesson will be useful to the participants.
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How Do We Learn
There is a vast amount of information available on learning style preferences. Many authors theorize there are four main ways in which people prefer to learn. Here are Hagberg and Leiders learning style descriptors: Enthusiastic: Starter of new activities Operates on a trial and error gut reaction Involves and inspires others Gets opinions and relies on them Seeks new experiences Likes risk; change incentives Dislikes routines Adapts well to new situations Willing to jump in Can be impulsive Likes learning through group doing discussion
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How Do We Learn
Imaginative: Does not want to be oriented to the whole picture Uses eyes and ears and translates through imagination Good observer Can model behaviour well Able to see self in different situations Unhurried, casual, calm, friendly Avoids conflict Timing is important: cannot push or be pushed until ready Likes assurance from others Learns by listening then sharing ideas with a small number of people

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How Do We Learn
Practical: Applies ideas/theories to solve problems in real life situations Has detective skills and the patience to search thoroughly Unemotional Uses reason and logic to meet goals and takes action Speculates on alternatives Likes to be in control Sets up projects likes the challenge of starting something new Acts independently, then gives feedback Responsible and reliable Learns by working alone

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How Do We Learn
Logical:

Good theorist and planner Good synthesizer of detail Precise Thorough and careful Organized, follows a plan Process-oriented Reacts slowly and wants facts

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Learning Style Preferences

So what is it about learning style preferences that is important for the student? Consider this scenario: Your student, who appears very keen, outward, not shy or hesitant and is described as very outgoing, arrives at your setting. You are excited to have your first student and preceptor experience. You think you have prepared very well and want everything to be organized, sequential and orderly. At 9 A.M. you greet the student and show her to a desk. You proceed to hand her the 3" thick "Policy and Procedure" manual and give her instructions to read the manual, make notes and note any questions she has to ask you when you return at noon. This approach certainly appeals to your practical nature and your learning style. You would have loved this on your first day! However, it seems that we have a very enthusiastic student who is very keen to see patients and jump right in. She begins chatting with a fellow colleague of yours in the office area and that colleague agrees to take her up to the floor with her to see some of her patients. When you check in on your student, you see that she is not where you left her and see her down the hall with your colleague, engaged in boisterous discussion about what she has just seen on the floor. Without considering personal learning styles, you may draw the wrong conclusion about the behaviour you observe such as: this student does not follow direction well, does not heed authority, or does not follow through on tasks. A simple first activity might have been for you to ask the student how she likes to learn or get her to complete a learning styles inventory. Then you could discuss each of your needs and how you could work together.

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Improving Learning
For optimal learning, we all need to be encouraged to adopt aspects of learning styles that differ from our preferred style. To help your student develop a learning style that is more ___ encourage him/her to Enthusiastic - take some risks (always with appropriate support), try something new, jump in occasionally rather than hold back Imaginative - think of alternative explanations or approaches to clinical problems or to look at the 'big' picture Practical - set specific goals for herself and her patients, and learn factual information that is necessary for the job Logical - take the time to plan and analyze, write down ideas and discuss them with you before acting upon them, develop sound rationale to support clinical decisions

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How Do We Learn
Realizing our own learning style and considering the preferred style of who we are working with can help us work together more successfully. On the last page are a couple of links to learning style inventories. You might like to complete one or both of the inventories and/or have your students complete them. Sharing your results with each other might help you figure out how to best work with students to meet their learning needs.
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Value Learning Styles

Learning style information also: Creates an ability to recognize and appreciate the diversity of learning styles

Encourages a collaborative, rather than a competitive atmosphere in which learners and educators work and learn together
Remember:

To cherish the differences There is no best way to learn Learning styles are NOT related to intelligence or mental ability Learning styles are preferences that will surface under stress

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The Learning Cycle

Well use an example of a teenager learning to drive to illustrate the stages of the learning cycle. Stage 1: An example of unconscious incompetence stage is the teenager who has no license yet is an expert on driving. He tells his mother when to slow down, when to put the blinker on, etc. Stage 2: At the conscious incompetence stage, the teen sits behind the wheel during his first drivers lesson and realizes he doesnt really know everything about driving and isnt the expert he thought he was. Stage 3: You were probably at the conscious competent stage, when you took your drivers test. You did everything as you were taught such as scanned the intersection before entering it, held your hands in the 10:00/2:00 position on the steering wheel, etc. Stage 4: Now that you have been driving for years, you have reached the unconscious competence stage. Do you remember if you followed all the rules of the road when you drove to work today? Were you drinking coffee or playing with the radio as you drove?

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Using the Learning Cycle

Think of something you have done recently in your practice: Where are you in the learning cycle? Unconscious Incompetence Conscious Incompetence Conscious Competence

Unconscious Competence

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Using the Learning Cycle

It helps to outline the different stages adults move through as they gain mastery in a subject or a skill.

Be aware that:
Over time, practitioners tend not to think about the theoretical principles and steps that guide their work. They just do it. As a skilled clinician, you need to bridge the gap between your level of "unconscious competence" and your student's level of "unconscious incompetence." The best way to do this is by explaining to the student why you are doing what you are doing. Practitioners who are consciously competent are often very good teachers because they are able to explain the steps involved in a procedure or their clinical reasoning.

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Retention
Remember that we retain: 10 % of what we read 20 % of what we hear 30 % of what we see 50 % of what we see and hear 70 % of what we say 90 % of what we say as we do something

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In Summary
Understanding the impact of personal learning style on learning in practice is necessary for fostering an effective learning environment Awareness of the learning cycle will facilitate your understanding of where students are in the learning process and strengthen your teaching techniques Understanding the principles of adult learning may support your preceptor experience
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References and Resources

Honey, P. & Mumford, A. (1982). Manual of Learning Styles. London: P. Honey. Hagberg, J & Leider, R. (1982). The Inventurers: Excursions in life and career renewal. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Renner, P. (2005). Flexing learning styles. In The Art of Teaching Adults (pp. 4-52). Vancouver, BC: PFR Training Associates Ltd. Rankin, S.H. & Duffy-Stallings, K. (2001). Educational interventions for patients and families. In Patient Education: Principles and Practice (pp. 264-265). New York: Lippincot, Williams and Wilkins.
Completing learning styles

inventories such as those linked below and sharing the results might help you and your students work better together. Soloman and Felders Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire Learning Style Inventory

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