Assessment Learning and Teaching in Practice

This article discusses the concepts and protocols guiding mentorship in nursing, learning styles and their application, and the impact of clinical learning environment on mentees. It also includes a SWOT analysis of the mentee and the importance of a positive learning environment. The article is relevant for nursing students and mentors. Course code and college/university not mentioned.

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Running Head: ASSESSMENT LEARNING AND TEACHING IN PRACTICE
Assessment Learning and Teaching in Practice
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Date

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ASSESSMENT LEARNING AND TEACHING PRACTICE
Introduction
Mentorship is commonly theorized and used contrarily in many areas (Chen et al,
2016).it’s an office approach of learning that is important to the mentee, employing
institution and mentor like a home of transferring the unspoken perspective of office. Due to
mentorship, starters are combined with the current group of training in the workshop. In
clinical practices, it is a distinct assurance that flourished in a company’s social and
encouraged counselling communication (Ferguson, 2015).
In many cases, the mentor is viewed as achiever by the mentee. He or She is
the role model and is responsible for failure or success of the mentee (Nowell et al., 2015).
The main intent of this paper is to articulate the concepts and protocols that have been
guiding me to mentor nursing students in my career as a certified medical practitioner. To
achieve all these, I will follow a systematic process that will bring together all the basics of
assessment. This will ensure the mentee is couched and motivated to achieve what earlier
seems impossible to them (Oreskina&Greenberg, 2011). The systematic process will be
followed throughout the learning period, and I will try to discover new things among the
involved student. In this regard, the systematic process will be incorporated in the teaching
and learning process whereby three meetings with the student will be organized
systematically and coherently (Jakubik, 2016).
Underachieving Student
Under the nurse perspectives, Student’s underachievement is said to be a continuous
failure to achieve credible expectations that are created on the inborn capability of the learner
(Parker,). The underachievers mostly take themselves existing as inferior to their colleagues,
they lack the confidence to ask and accomplish tasks, lack persistence, lack capacity to
organize, design and struggle in the route of expected goal (Damber et al, 2012). Mentor
plays a major role in this case of uplifting the self-esteem of the student who feels they are
the failure. In this regard, it is a male second year nursing student who I am going to mentor
throughout this paper
The most common notable feature of underachieving student I have encountered is
fear. They commonly feel too much fear and are unable to control their fear. A good mentor

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ASSESSMENT LEARNING AND TEACHING PRACTICE
is the one who is able to identify this feature in a student and guides him to overcome the
fear. (Bradshaw et al, 2013). In this regard, I believe I am a good mentor because of my past
experiences with the students. I have been able to mentor several students. I believe I will be
successful in mentoring the current student I am working on.
From my own experience as a nurse and a mentor, a mentor has to link expert
conclusion to the process of making decisions by communicating with the mentee in person,
communicating with the mentee about his concerns and challenges (Butterwortrth&Faugier,
2013). That is the second step a mentor should do. Free and openness are very vital in
mentorship. A mentee should always be free to say anything in front of the mentor (single,
2012).
As a mentor, I have to trust the learner’s capability so as to assist him in attaining his
goals. Mentorship is a student-oriented, active and intensely directed action (Oreshkina
&Greenberg, 2010). Mentees and mentors have a common connection for fulfilment and
occupation accomplishment for both. For mentoring connection to be effective, the mentee
and mentor must have an affiliation of precise anticipations from each other, individual
connection, shared values, reciprocity, and respect. On the other side, Straus et al. (2013) said
that the mentee and mentor relation dies due to lack of commitment, communication,
differences in their interests and values and mentors level of experience. In my experience, I
have been trying as much as possible to establish an effective relationship with the mentees.
Learning styles and their application
My own understanding of learning in nursing and mentorship is that learning is a
change in understanding, feeling and thinking the process of a learner but it’s not an
alteration of behaviours. Learners are grouped as follows: tactile/kinaesthetic learners,
auditory learners, and visual learners. It is evaluated that styles of learning of a student are
29%visual, 37%haptic and 34% auditory (Billings &Halstead, 2015)
VAK model was developed by psychologists in 1920 to help learners understand what
they are being taught. According to this model, students prefer to learn in three different ways
which include visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic. In most cases, different students have their
ways of understanding the content among the three. In short, some prefer to use the visual,

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ASSESSMENT LEARNING AND TEACHING PRACTICE
others the auditory and some use the kinaesthetic (Hidayah, 2015). Those who prefer the
visual learning tend to rely on presentations such as diagrams, pictures, and charts to absorb
the learning. Besides, those who prefer the auditory way choose to rely on listening to what is
being presented by the teacher. Lastly, those who prefer the kinaesthetic way learn by
physical experience whereby they have to touch or feel objects in the learning environment.
Most of my students have been preferring kinaesthetic style. My current project is no
different from the rest. He prefers demonstration to visual and auditory styles.
Specific application to my mentee
Direct to the point, kinaesthetic students (My mentee) study through actions,
demonstrations by touching and movement. He uses movement as a memory aid, learns via
hands-on practice, chews gum or snacks when studying, moves around while listening and
talking and enjoy acting. He prefers to stand instead of sitting when studying new things. He
does well with role play, have hart time listening &sitting and they lose most of what is
taught in a lecture. This students desire to take frequent learning breaks, they prefer to act
instead of listening, have high energy degree and do well when actively involved (Truong,
2016). He loves to study via active participation. This student should be allowed to make
models, use hand materials, formula-based when learning as this brings simulation (Gilley et
al, 2014).
These days there is a lot of emphasis on the use of models in nursing. The dissimilar
situation is acted in dissimilar ways. Information with the accomplishment of the setup
regardless of the approaches that are used and the students level of education (Tosterud et al,
2013).
Application of Learning Theories in Learning and Teaching
Learning theories include behavioural theory, cognitive learning theory, pedagogy,
and andragogy. Behavioural theory views learning as the process of acquiring knowledge
form the behaviours in one’s environment. It explains that learning develops when one is
exposed to certain reinforcements. The reinforcements then trigger certain behaviours which
become part of the person (Lee, 2016). However, this type of learning does not involve
learning new things such as language since it only relies on a presenting stimulus. Therefore
this theory is aimed at learning to gain general knowledge especially for children who are
growing and developing. Another theory is the cognitive learning theory which involves deep

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thinking to come up with solutions to problems or questions. In this case, learners are
persuaded to learning through observing categorizing and coming up with decisions that can
make them live in the existing environment (Waters, 2016). The theory applies to all levels of
learning since it involves deeper thinking to solve existing problems.
Additionally, pedagogy, which is a teaching method used in delivering theoretical
knowledge to the learner who knows the outcome of learning. It involves learning the
academic concepts such as theories in the course of study (Muduli, 2018). Teachers are
directly involved in delivering the content by explaining what learners might not be in the
position to understand. The theories have become common in the current learning system
where students attend classes and lectures directly. The theory can be well applied in teaching
first-learners who need to gain knowledge about life and for future carriers. Finally,
andragogy is another learning theory which is applied in teaching adults who are demanding
for further studies to add to their current knowledge (Muduli, 2018). The system of teaching
adults is different from that of teaching young students as they only need slight explanations
so they can research on the rest. It is applied in those taking a master of a degree in their
education and higher.
My mentee preferences
Having explained the theories of learning and teaching, it is clear that each of the
theories has a crucial place where it can be applied in learning. Thus, teachers should have
adequate knowledge regarding these theories to ensure that they apply them appropriately to
benefit learners. In some case, more than two theories can be applied to the same class of
students for effective delivery and understanding of the content (Kolb, 2014). My mentee
preferred a combination of the cognitive learning theory and pedagogy to teach. I observed
this within the first week of the meeting. I am sure this is going to help him uplift his self-
esteem and improve in his work and career in general. Cognitive learning theory which
involves deep thinking to come up with solutions to problems or questions. In this case, the
mentee is persuaded to learning through observing categorizing and coming up with decisions
that can make him live in the existing environment and overcome the fear. Pedagogy involves
learning the academic concepts such as theories in the course of study (Muduli, 2018). I will

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be directly involved in delivering the content by explaining what my mentee might
not be in the position to understand in the nursing career.
Discussion and analysis of mentees learning style
Learning outcomes refer to what the teacher plan to be achieved at the end of a
course or a program. In every learning system, a comprehensive curriculum has to be
established to ensure that every concept is captured before the end of the term. It also keeps
teachers and student on the same track by avoiding time wastage (Ashenafi, 2016). Among
the determinants of learning outcomes is the learning plan or action plan. Usually, these plans
are made in an official meeting to ensure that every teacher agrees. Learning objectives are
also established to avoid skipping important areas of study.
The impact of the clinical learning environment to the mentee
My mentee is a kinaesthetic student he learns through demonstration. This means that
the environment influences him in learning. Being an attentive profession, getting the skills
and the profession that are very important in nursing from official education in various
institutions, it contains everything that is around the student nurse comprising the student
clinical equipment, instrument, staff and the mentor ( Nowell et al, 2015). As a mentor, the
student should be the priority while in the institution. Therefore, any progress in behaviour
and academics should be monitored. Mentors should develop a rapport with their students so
that they can freely discuss matters affecting them. A good clinical learning atmosphere is
made well by encouraging positive learning.
A positive medical learning environment is the area where learning and teaching take
place in the very good and productive way (Dimitriadou et al, 2015). .The mentor role in an
optimistic mentoring environment is to motivate, encourage as well as acting as a good role
model. The mentor may be able to make various opportunities for the instruction to occur by
choosing major points from a more complex work.
The other important thing is that the mentee must be oriented well and the mentor
should make the learner to feel welcomed. The environment prepares the mentee to
appreciate his career and adopt the skills applied in his career. This serves to motivate and
provide him with a professional working environment. The tutor should make sure he lays

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ASSESSMENT LEARNING AND TEACHING PRACTICE
out the very best plan objective as well as the expectation (Millan et al, 2015).
A strong bond between the student and the working environment are much tied. My
work as a mentor is to make sure that readily available resources, for example, manpower,
procedure manual, manikins, training rooms, SOP/HAP are also available to the student.
Knowledge, attitude together with skills (KAS) of the learner is required for a full check up
by the mentor (Chen et al, 2016).
SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis is used to assess strength and weaknesses as the internal ability of any
given organization, as opposed to opportunities and threats posed by external environments.
The evidence of this analysis is today used for strategic planning (Gilley & Clarkston,
2014).SWOT analysis is the strategic planning to identify the strength, weaknesses and
threats that face or affects any business, project and any situation In this regard, SWOT
analysis serves a very important role in establishing the effectiveness of the learning
environment for my mentee.
The most common worry among the nurses and my mentee, in particular, is the
phobia to fail, seeming to be silly, loss of face, loss of job and having to change. To make
sure this fear training mechanism in the clinical environment should be much designed for
instruction on a given topic with shortly managed steps (Chuang & Tsao, 2013). My mentee
strength is learning very easy and being able to associate with people. His weaknesses are
fear and low self-esteem. He also fears to speak in the public. Analyzing his strengths and
weakness leads to an opportunity to coach and motivate him to be the best of what he can be.
In the end, I am sure the trend will be admirable and the outcomes will be marvelous.
The mentee should be left to know the area of performance as well as possible and
should be able to adjust according to the learner’s performance. The other thing to note is that
the mentor should not compare the student with somebody else, give more room to the
learner to more practice as you use positive reinforcement in any way possible to raise the
ego of the learner (Dimitriasdou M et al, 2014).

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ASSESSMENT LEARNING AND TEACHING PRACTICE
Value of accurate recording
In mentoring, the action plan has several components that determine the achievements
that should be fulfilled in a specified period. The components include learning goals which
have their ways of doing them. The ways, in this case, are the steps that will be taken to
achieve that mentoring goal (Basturkmen, 2015). It also includes the evaluation part which
involves reviewing of the goals that have been achieved.
Figure 1. Table Showing the Learning Action Plan.
Goals Action Steps Review Date/ Time Evaluation
Ability to understand
the course definitions
Explain definitions
to learners in simple
terms
At the end of the
lesson
Learners will be able
to define the content
terms
Ability to explain the
planned content
Deliver the content
in a comprehensive
At the end of the
scheduled content
Learners will be able
to explain the learned
content
Ability to answer
questions of the
learned content
Ask questions
regarding the taught
content
At the end of the
topic of study
Learners will answer
questions in the
study area
Ability to sit for
exams and pass
Examine the studied
content
At the end of a
study or term
The study will
achieve highly in the
set exams
Preceptor Signature: Learner Signature:
Date: Date:

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Assessment to promote learning in practice
Assessment is needed for obtaining information on which educational decisions will
be based. It includes the collection, measurement, and interpretation of information related to
student's responses to the process of instruction. It is a measure of the mentee's competence
and progress (Mathysen & Goldik, 2015). Accurate records need to be maintained by the
mentor to keep a track of the progress of the mentee. Regular meetings with the student are
also essential to assess the progress. Self-assessment by the mentee should be encouraged as
it is an effective and efficient tool required to identify his strengths and weaknesses. The
mentee must develop an awareness of his own strengths, weaknesses, and standard of
practice. The mid (formative) and final (summative) assessment both need to be
considered (Tosterud et al, 2013). The assessments should be consistent, stable and valid.
Importance of induction to the team and clinical area
The students who are slow learners need more time and attention as well as support to
provide proper care for the patients. The mentors work is to integrate the theory into a
practical aspect. Team orientating as well as induction are also very crucial (Lahti et al,
2014). Audiovisual aids and some techniques such as simulation must be used to make a real
practical environment. The team must also work in conjunction with a simulated medical
environment to developed contact between the team and the mentor (Nowell et al, 2015).
Role of self-awareness and emotional intelligence
Self-awareness and regulation are the two of the five very important components of
emotional intelligence. This helps in recognizing the moods and understanding oneself
emotions. It's about understanding whatever somebody may be feeling or doing as well as the
factors that may have brought it (Hidayah, 2015). We are always fearful about the things that
we sometimes not understand. Self-awareness helps one to reduce anxiety or what is called
panic, the most important to personal success and the growth is always to pay attention to our
emotional patterns, learn from them, ready to regulate them but not to fight them (Hidayah,
2015).

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The importance of feedback is very important since provides timely and is very specific.
Seeking feedback from the student is very crucial for a mentor to adopt the new strategies.
Providing timely assessment
If a student is to benefit from a feedback it must not be frequent and timely, but also
very important for improving performance by checking the key three areas. It entails what the
student performed well, what the student requires to improve in and how to improve. Giving
a detailed feedback is very crucial and very important to give it in a timely manner.
Conclusion and recommendation
I have learnt that it’s significant to evaluate the style of learning of the mentee before
making decisions for dealing with underachieving learners. The information got from theories
is useful in the evaluation process. Team support and clinical working environment play an
important function. The teaching and learning assessment under the three discussed meetings
can help come up with the best teaching and learning style, and also identify the effective
work plan that can improve the performance of students. Applying the VAK learning styles
and theories of learning appropriately also can improve the learning outcome. More so,
teachers should always encourage their students to ensure good performance.
Lastly, teachers and mentors should always award marks to students according to
their efforts in class and during practice placements, as this will instil a positive attitude in all
learners in a learning institution. The mentee desires to be fully aware and conscious of their
inability. If the awareness of deficiency and skill is non-existent or low. The learner will have
no desire to learn (unconscious incompetence). Thus it is essential to create alertness of the
faintness (conscious of their wants and its importance) earlier to revealing guidance so as to
proceed to the following phase, for example, learning (conscious incompetence). I would
recommend that the mentors be given all infrastructural resources they need to enhance
physical learning to the students.

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