Teaching and learning, and new ideas...having been on both sides of the equation for so long, some days I feel totally unprepared to be the 'teacher' and wonder how in the world it happened...and then, the other days. Those are the days I love. And what keeps me involved with the students, and wanting to get better at what I do.
I teach Pharmacology, and I am fully aware that it is not the most exciting course, nor the favorite course of the students required to take it. I am always trying to get them involved in the broad stroke, conceptual elements, and connecting the content to the patient. Sometimes it involves the pictures, practice questions, case studies...and the case studies give them the opportunity to discuss the content, apply it to a scenario, and work with others. All that education/learning theory being applied (by me) and helping the students improve their critical thinking skills. Of course, it sounds great in theory, you might ask, and 'how do you know it is working?' They told me. One of my best moments this semester was the day a student (with a previous degree) said "This was awesome. You are teaching us how to think." Better than chocolate. Or gelato. And I just had another internal news flash - aka whisper - it doesn't all happen in the classroom. I also see students in the office, and in clinical. These are additional opportunities to facilitate learning. It is not always on content for the current week, but learning is not always on my schedule. The opportunity to serve the students takes on many faces and I am learning to stay open to this, and have flexible expectations of students and myself.
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It is Wednesday! Woohoo! Only 10 more teaching hours this week, then grading my little hands off for the weekend. But it was a great week! And not because I won the lottery or found a long lost rich uncle, but because that mid-term time when nursing students begin to say 'oh. That's why we...' is here. Lightbulbs!
Nursing students are tremendously stressed-out human beings. You have seen them - maybe. By mid second semester some wear sweats and slippers because they overslept secondary to another late night of studying. They have test after test. As you may know, pre-licensure nursing programs end with the students eligible to take the NCLEX -the licencing exam. This is the definition of high-stakes testing. So we get them ready by giving them high-stakes test after high-stakes test. Learning how to answer those questions is different from any other type of exam. However, all this research for my dissertation is paying off. An article I came across related to the assessment process. My course has traditionally had four exams, a paper, pretests, and that's it. The paper was in place 'before my time' and I made the informed decision to drop the assignment and replace it with a cumulative midterm. Sounds like high stakes testing. But wait...it was a group activity, in class, open book. Stress levels already decreasing, right? But did learning happen? That is the most important element. The research has indicated that learning does occur, for may reasons - Pick your favorite: Adult learning theory, reduced stress, social constructivist theory.... Well, guess what folks, learning occurred. Even students who have been beyond negative this semester left the classroom saying "that was an awesome learning experience." Another said "I love that you are teaching us how to think." Well, it was a good week. I will have a great weekend. Um, yeah. I are a PhD (c).
What keeps me thinking and trying new things, and makes me want to see them succeed? Interesting to consider. The first, and most self-serving include:
Sometimes my motivation is abject failure of a particular strategy. Sometimes, what "I KNOW IS BEST" is not best for the group I am teaching. So the challenge is to incorporate the evidence based best practice into the evidence based worst practice and slowly change, challenge, and facilitate learning and critical thinking at a different pace. Or method. This reflective element of both my nursing and teaching practices grows daily. It is not about what I know, but about how the student can succeed in incorporating best practice (nursing) into their tool box. Humility is a piece of my daily practice. Sometimes faculty look out at the sea of students (or pond) and get blank looks. I think this can be from a number of things, but the priority concerns for me are lack of preparation and not understanding. Well, lack of preparation was a choice on their part. I cannot control that. Darn. (See humility above!!) But, if I can figure out a way to get the 'light bulb' to go on, or the really stellar questions to start, the student has more tools for success. And then there is that other piece. I truly believe in lifelong learning for everyone. I have been very fortunate; my 85-year-old father learns something almost every day. He has modeled reading and learning (as my mom did) daily, for as long as I can remember. Some days, what I learn from him are new combinations of phrases as he curses the computer or iPad. But he keeps plugging away at it! I love to learn, and try to learn something new every day. Sometimes it is a lesson I would rather not have learned, and sometimes it might be something I did not really need to know. But now I do. And that can never be taken away. And if I can somehow help every student (or peer) I come in contact with to learn and understand that learning is never done, and can be put away in the 'tool box' until it can be of service to someone, then that was an excellent day. Even if it was one person. So intrinsic or extrinsic...mine is intrinsic. Always has been. As an educator, I know this yields deeper understanding, application, critical thinking...all the things we work so hard to help the students develop. However, we all have a carrot of some sort that has an extrinsic element. Interesting reflection... Interesting to contemplate the idea this week. I have had the worst classroom experience AND one of the best teaching moments of my career in the last ten days. Enough about the worst...
The light bulbs are why we do this. At least why I do this. I can lead them to the content, try to engage them in discussion, offer tools for developing the ever-elusive critical (clinical) thinking, and hope for the best. Well, it happened twice last week. And guess what? It was not during a Power Point presentation. I know that sounds shocking. It was after a PPT review of the content, during a group case study in class with a concept map. So many ideas all came together. Trying to connect the dots with difficult content in the nursing world is difficult. So many new languages: medical terminology, nursing terminology and thinking and now pharmacology terminology. Makes my head want to explode and I teach this stuff! The old methods of lecture make me sleepy, and don't engage the brains. As much as some may struggle against the 'new fangled' ideas and technology, the data would suggest... The next part of the connections is the application, of course. And we (NSG) do that in clinical. While I am 'of an age' where the physical element of clinical kicks my butt, I love it. And I got to see a student connect the Pharmacology and the Medical Surgical content into the critical thinking process all while caring for a patient. The use of the concept map in class helped the student apply the content in the critical clinical element. Boom!! I won't stop trying to improve; the worst day was pretty bad, and I always look for what part I might have in that type of situation. I also don't over-rate my contributions to the light bulbs that go off: it is not just my doing. Students come to us with so many experiences, and abilities, and we facilitate the exploration and expansion of those abilities. Sigh....more reflection?!!? Week 2: 9x9x25...and I was worried about what to write... Well, another week of growth and learning. This might be code for a really tough learning experience for the professor. But some history first...
My first teaching job was at a little for-profit school subdivision of a very large corporation. Allied health, and general education, with a bit of computer tech were the primary course tracks. The student population was diverse. The school was located in northern Virginia, in a Washington, DC suburban area. Demographically, our students would be classified today as non-traditional. Racial diversity was real, with a large African American population, followed by Hispanic American, and Asian American. Many were first generation to finish high school, so higher education was not the norm. English was often a second language, adding to the challenges of learning and teaching. The first class I ever taught was not a nursing class; the primary instructor was out on LOA, and my skill set included some medical office background, so I was tasked with the Medical Office Specialist class. I was nervous: first class, for students who loved their instructor, and, I will admit, there were many tough inner city students. And as I walked in, one said to me (total truth) "We'll give you a week. We love Mr. F." Great. However, the same student, at the end of the program, after passing the program, and CPR, hugged me and said thank you. This is background for my overall philosophy of teaching, learning and education in general:
In all the graduate education courses I have taken (way too many), there has never been a classroom management course. Perhaps it was assumed that nursing students choose to go into nursing, usually have a heads up about the challenges, and are willing to trust the process. Well, I am finding that that classroom management course should have been included. Nursing courses address communication, and basic nursing communication helps with general de-escalation techniques, etc. But nothing specific related to classroom. And with the current socio-political environment, unfortunately more questions are found than answers. How do I support students who for some reason (fear of failure perhaps) don't trust the process? Am I getting the fallout for a previous experience? Is this reflective of an overall change in respect for other humans in our society? Post-class reflection is my process; there is always something that could be tweaked, even after one of those really great classes (you know the ones, where you watch the light bulbs go off!). And I am human, but as a nurse and an educator, it is my goal to be supportive, kind, positive, and encouraging to all - including colleagues. However, how do you handle the class that has a couple of disruptive students who incite a shark attack? More as I research, reflect, implement, and evaluate... So, how did a nurse who loved bedside nursing end up in teaching? I do ask myself that question on a semiannual basis. Usually right after each semester starts, but no later than the first exam. The challenges seem un-ending; each class has a different personality, with students who have similar and very different needs. And yet..
I was minding my own business, looking for a job in the post-divorce trauma/drama, and came across a job at a for-profit institution that was going to start a practical nursing program. What did I look at? The 25 hours a week for full time benefits. Of course, not having any experience with education other than patient teaching (one-to-one) I thought, self, how hard could it be. Ha. And I was hooked. That first position yielded my MSN ED, perhaps one of the most shocking aspects. I already had my BSN, so I “did not have to go back” for any further education. My boss peer group pressured me into that program. And lo and behold, the challenges I faced in the classroom had some strategies for developing and producing better student outcomes. The idea that “I know more than they do” was great, but that wasn’t helping me help them. And that led to an AHA moment: The students were my new patients. Yup. That simple. And that helped with helping them, and developing teaching and learning strategies that might help produce even better student outcomes. Or EOPSLOs. Or SLOs. (shout out to SLOA committee!) The thought of the students as ‘patients’ was thought provoking on its own. My philosophy on nursing includes the idea that 80-90% of what we do is teaching; teaching about prevention and health promotion, rehabilitation and medications, stage of life, etc. Now, 80-90% of my time with the students is related to teaching, and getting to know how they learn best, and what resources I can guide them to in order to facilitate learning. In addition, that other time is spent getting to know them we can strategize ways to minimize the effects of 'outside forces.' Prevention and health promotion. And the connection is made! So that was the start. I still know more about some things than some; but not all. That darn Internet...but that takes us to other challenges. More to come. Uh oh. I might enjoy this.... |
AuthorHi everyone! I teach nursing. I am a nurse. I love what I do. I can always improve...this is my teaching reflection (9x9x25) YC Blog! ArchivesCategories |