Learning Styles for Nurses

This assignment focuses on the significance of understanding different learning styles in nursing practice. The essay delves into learning theories, including Kolb's model, and discusses how nurses can effectively cater to diverse patient learning needs. It emphasizes the limitations of traditional teaching methods and advocates for personalized approaches based on individual learning preferences.

A Reflection on the Learning Style using
Theories

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Main Body..................................................................................................................................3
An Overview of Learning Theories........................................................................................3
What does the literature say about learning styles?................................................................7
Explore the Learning cycle...................................................................................................10
Conclusion................................................................................................................................12
References................................................................................................................................13

Introduction
Learning style is different from one person to the other. In most cases, 40 students in a class
will have their own selective style of learning, and these learning styles are important with
aspect to their learning and schooling, but also important for nursing students who are
training to be applied in their duties as Nurses for patients with learning disabilities. Most
people associate learning styles with the commonly learnt seven patterns and styles that most
people undertake. In the following summary we have illustrated how it is important for a
nurse for patients with learning disabilities to learn and use learning theories in their practical
lives as nurses.
Main Body
An Overview of Learning Theories
As per the Behaviourist Learning Theory, the behaviour is an important aspect of learning
and the learner is a passive person who is only reacting to the stimulations presented to
him/her by the environment surrounding them. There is significant belief in the theory of
Behaviourism that no person is born with vices or good behaviour. They believe that
behaviour is created with slow and collective reinforcement of negative and positive
experiences (Ertmer, 2013). Reinforcing the various influences also increases the chance of
the people to face same situations and there is also the influence of punishment which can
also be positive and negative. Punishment as per Behaviourism leads to a decrease in the
chance of an event or situation reoccurring and it is also important to understand that
behaviour is important aspect of learning as it creates a space for cognitive behaviour. This
theory is predominantly used by learners and teachers too, which is used to provide certain
specific duties from the teacher’s side. The first step taken by teachers in this theory based

education is to provide feedback to students in order to develop their skills; the teachers are
also seen to divide the large task for easy management by the team member. As a Nurse
working with patients with Learning disabilities understanding the various aspects of what
can done to create a better education experience for them and to help them learn and
understand better (Peel, 2005). There is impotence to reinforcement of positive rules, using
feedback to help the learner understand the various aspects of learning. Breaking down the
tasks for a patient with learning disabilities provide them with the basic methods to help
teamwork and also to create better. Learners; can be encouraged to ask questions and also ask
for feedback.
Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory States that the classical conditioning theories of
behavioural learning is based on the theory that children are prone to imitating the beavers
that are before them in the simplest ways. The famous Bebo doll experiment was done to
make the theory of Bandura believable and useful in learning how individuals act and how
people learn. In his approach there is a meditational process which is an effort to make
Traditional theory of learning connect with the modern cognitive approach to learning.
Bandura theory believes humans to process information and these processes are affected by
their behaviour (Bandura, 2006).

(Peel, 2005)
Whereas in the Cognitive Model the process is illustrated clearly by Bandura in the below
process chart:
There are mainly four processes categorised by Bandura in his Cognitive model: Attention,
Retention, Reproduction and Motivation.
Stimulus
(Within the
Environment)
Black Box
(Unable to be
Studied)
Response
(Behavior)
Input
(Within the
Enviornment)
Mediational
Process
(Mental
Events)
Output
(Behavior)

Maslow’s Humanistic theory of personality can be essential in understanding the connection
between behaviour, and human psychology. His theories state that there are hierarchical
psychological needs of every person which can be presented in a visual pyramid helping to
understand the needs for the human personality. According to Maslow in the topmost Self
Actualization section, a person reaches the most self awareness and understands and stands
out as learners and great personalities (Hoffman, 2004).
(Hoffman, 2004)
According to Burrhus Skinner’s Behavioural Theory, every process of learning is the result of
the behaviour. He believes that behaviour stimulates learning and the consequences of the
behaviour create learning patterns. In order for his theory to be fulfilling, the first step is to
determine what the behavioural changes that the student requires are and work toward
Self
Act
uali
zati
on
Esteem
Love/Belonging
Safety
Psychological

creating the most accurate plan to help the same desired behaviours to be created within the
student (Skinner, 2011).
Consequences Example
Receive a positive Reinforcement or Receive
Reinforce
Providing special accreditations to students for
timely work submissions.
Removing the Negative reinforcement from the
effect
Students are provided the option to select their
favourite subject from the unpleasant ones if
they are still
Receiving unpleasant Punishment Providing additional task as homework
Withholding unpleasant stems Not allowing student to play in case he did not
complete his work on time (Peel, 2005)
What does the literature say about learning styles?
There is a definite difference in how each person prefers to understand and learn the various
aspects of education but these techniques are often mentioned as different learning styles,
which are one of the major subjects of study and it is really important in relation to the fact
that most people are

There are a number of styles of learning that are accepted and followed throughout the
learning sphere and knowing these styles is important in assessing and providing help to
patients in the service as a nurse for learning disabilities. The main points related to the
Learning Styles are (a)Visual (b) Logical (c)Verbal (d)Physical (e) Aural (f) Social (g)
Solitary (Abidin, 2011).
Although these are the main techniques in which a certain person can learn but not everyone
uses just one style and most people use a mixture of these styles to get their required learning
style. There is usually a dominant style which is most effective and mostly used although
they might change afterwards.
When explaining the Kolb’s Experiential Learning Style theory along with the Honey-
Mumford style learning it is possible to make the learning style segregated into four distinct
patterns. These are (A) Activist (B) Pragmatist (C) Reflector and (D) Theorist. These are
different techniques for learning for each group of student and they all learn differently.
These different learning styles have very few things in common. The Activist is a person who
led by doing things and being actively included in the learning process. This is the person
who believes in Tryon it themselves to understand how theories work and how they can see
Learning
Styles
Visual
Logical
Verbal
PhysicalAural
Social
Solitary

the changes. There are also the Pragmatists who are people who are more interested in
whether or not a theory is able to provide believable results there people are not interested in
details and theories and are more interested in how the theory is applicable. The reflectors are
people who learn and reflect afterwards of learning and want to learn the theory and
understand everything before they can try to get their hands dirty. The last section the
Theorists are people who are ready to understand new things and want to link them to their
original or previous understanding of the things relating to it. They are likely to think about
how it relates top other theories and them they are interested in getting actively participative
in the matter (Rezaee, 2012).
In my assessment through the Honey & Mumford questionnaire I have identified myself as a
Reflector who believes in learning everything in theory and then wanting to take part in any
learning process. I learn from reflecting multiple times on what has been taught to me. There
is also the aspect where the VAK model of learning comes into play and it is unique and
informative for teachers and nurses working with children and other patients with learning
disabilities (Sims, 2005)
This learning style is based on NLP program which is basically short for Neuron Linguistic
Programming. The short form VAK comes from Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic. The
theory takes into consideration how the learners digest or process information. The Visual
Learners are people who are more eager in seeing things and learn from the pictures or
images or illustration and process it through their minds in the pictorial format. There are
auditory learners, who are more eager to hear and learn. These people are good listeners and
are more comfortable in hearing a speech, a lecture, and discussions or by reading aloud.
These people are good in processing information through speech. There is also the
kinaesthetic learner who is more attracted to experiencing a thing through tactile exploration

techniques and they are more likely to understand things better when they experiment or see
it happen before their eyes.
There are a number of learning styles and theories that offer very different designs and
formats for learning and it is still not sure that there is a single style that is able to help the
most differently and diverse group of learners. In most cases, even if the people are grouped
according to their preference of learning, not every person shows the dependence on the same
learning style and is more often learning and changing their styles with experience and time.
(Hoffman, 2004)
Explore the Learning cycle
Since every person’s learning style and times are different, there are some frameworks that
can clearly provide a better and clearer picture on the different types of Learning cycles and
the importance of understanding the learning cycles and how these learning cycles are
affecting their potentiality for better service afterwards. There is a number of ways that
Concrete
Experience
Reflective
Observation
Abstract
Conceptualisation
Active
Experiementation

learning cycles are dependent upon the person who is learning. For the reflective learner the
David Kolb’s Learning Styles concept is an easy representation of how people are
experiencing and learn in the daily basis. This learning is processed in our minds and in
different aspects of life, like school learning, learning at work or learning from everyday life
(Skinner, 2011).
Through the Kolb model we can make out four specific steps to creation of a learning
experience and a learning cycle for anything we learn on a daily basis. There is a Strong and
Concrete Experience or feeling which is created while indulging in a specific work. In the
second step the Reflective Observation is initiated where the learner closely observes the
matters that are related t the learning and then in the third step there is a step for Abstract
Conceptualisation which provides the learner to think about the thing he/she has learnt. The
learner is then shifting to Active Experimentation mode where the leaner wishes to make use
of his new knowledge or skill. This means it is more evident for a nurse to be able to
understand and make difference among the best styles that is required to address the learning
problem of one student. It is hence important to note that not every student or patient learns in
the same way and as a Nurse with the ability to understand the specific requirements for each
Concrete
Experience
Reflective
Obbservation
Abstract
Conceptualisation
Active
Experiemntation

group of learners it would be better to get the right solution. In most schools the common
linguistic based and logical methods are being used to deliver education which is a also book
and theory based and depends on the yearly exam techniques to judge and provide marks and
grades to students which can be bad choice for the learners who are able to learn far better
using other techniques. It is possible for nurses with ability to differentiate between the right
learning styles to ensure that the patients under them can be helped in the right way and
ensure that these methods are best suited for their personal needs (Ertmer, 2013).
Conclusion
In the above essay it has been clearly define that it is imperative that a student of Nursing
understands the various learning styles and also understands the specifics of the current and
popularly used Learning Theories that can help them handle their patients better, In order to
become a better Nurse for the people with Learning Disabilities, it is essential to know the
different style of learning, their benefits and shortcomings as well as be aware of the best
learning methods to ensure better response and growth from the patients. Through careful
understanding of all aspects of learning for a patient with Learning disability, the future nurse
shall be able to [provide the correct clinical help and handle any problems associated with
learning disabilities properly.

References
Abidin, M. J. Z., 2011. Learning Styles and Overall Academic Achievement in a Specific
Educational System. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science , 1(10), pp. 1-
10.
Bandura, A., 2006. Social foundations of thought and action: a social cognitive theory.
s.l.:Prentice-Hall.
Ertmer, P. A., 2013. Behaviorism, Cognitivism,Constructivism: Comparing Critical Features
From an Instructional Design Perspective. International Society for Performance
Improvement, 26(2), p. 4 3 – 7 1.
Hoffman, E., 2004. Abraham Maslow's Life and Unfinished Legacy. Japanese Journal
ofAdministrative Science, 17(3), pp. 133-138.
Peel, D., 2005. The significance of behavioural learning theory to the development of
effective coaching practice.. International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and
Mentoring, 3(1), pp. 1-11.
Rezaee, A. A., 2012. Learning Styles and Overall Academic Achievement , s.l.: University of
Tehran.
Sims, R. R., 2005. The Importance of Learning Styles: Understanding the Implications for
Learning, Course Design, and Education. s.l.:Greenwood Publishing Group.
Skinner, B., 2011. About Behaviorism. s.l.:Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.