Open Book Exam: Learning Theories and Gender in Nursing Education

This document presents an open-book exam answer for a nursing faculty. The first question addresses the preferred use of a specific learning theory versus a combination of theories in teaching nursing courses, with a justification for the choice. The answer advocates for a combination of behaviorist, cognitive, psychodynamic, humanistic, and social learning theories, detailing the benefits of each. The second question identifies and discusses a gender difference related to cognitive thinking processes, specifically highlighting that women excel in language and verbalization, while men are better in mathematical abilities. The answer explains the neuroscientific and biological factors contributing to these differences, including variations in brain structure such as the temporal lobe and corpus callosum, and how these differences influence learning styles and cognitive abilities.

This is an open book exam. You are allowed to use the course books and any
other academic materials during the exam but you have to follow the academic
writing role which means you have to reference all your work.
Please follow the instruction and return the answer to me by Saturday March 21,
2020 at 23:59 p.m Good luck
Notes:
1. Please download this word document and answer both
questions then send back your answer.
2. Before sending your answers make sure that the file name
should be named by your fist name and student ID.( قبل
ارسال ملف اجابتك يجب التأكد من تغيير اسم الملف
ليكون باسمك األول ورقمك الجامعي)
3. Marks will be detected if the answer was not reference
using the APA format.
Answer the following questions:
1. Suppose that you are a nursing faculty at the college of nursing
and you were asked to consider the integration and application
of learning theories in your teaching for nursing courses; do you
prefer to use:
(a) A specific learning theory OR (b) A combination of
learning theories.
Make sure to choose only one of these options (either "a" or "b") and defend /
justify your answer?
2. Identify and discuss one gender difference between males and
females related to their readiness to learn, learning styles, or
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cognitive thinking processes. Be sure to make a comparison
between males and females as learners
Start the answers here and you should not exceed 3 pages in total
Question 1:
Learning is a form of permanent change that takes place in an individual
gradually, affecting their emotional functioning, behavior or mental processing due to
the impact of their experiences. Faculties in educational institutes have to make a plan
to efficiently teach their students with the help of learning theories. Learning theories
are being adapted by teachers especially for healthcare education as it is becoming
simpler to teach focusing on the important aspects. If I was a teaching facility in
nursing then I would use a combination of theories to teach in my class such as
behaviorist, cognitive, psychodynamic, humanistic and social learning theories. The
benefit of using different theories for educational purpose helps in increasing the
amount of knowledge being observed. The behaviorist theory of learning is suitable
for passive, reactive learners who respond to stimuli and it increases practice in
people who learn and involves the learner in identifying differences between new
situations and learning. Cognitive learning is for active learners who determines
themselves into learning new experiences and is dominantly influenced by
attributions. The learning in this style increases mental and physical activity and helps
to understand the common patterns including learning how to learn. Social style of
learning is all about adapting to external role models and their assumed reinforcement
as it is suitable for active learners who observe others and adjusts to decisions that
help in reproducing behavior. It helps in learning the role model’s behavior and the
similarity of settings that is helpful for the learner. Psychodynamic theory of learning
is focused on internal forces such as childhood experiences, developmental stages,
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and emotional conflicts including aspects related to the psychology of an individual.
The things learnt by the learner is influenced by their past experiences, lifestyle, and
current emotional conflicts and the educator becomes a reflective interpreter who
thinks about a learner before questioning or motivating them. Lastly, the humanistic
style of learning is about the internal feelings, changing behavior, making wise
choices and needs affecting learning and change for a better learning. It is suited for
active learners who attempts to discover their potential and confirming self-concept. It
makes them understand their negative and positive qualities that obstructs their
transfer of learning. The combination of all these theory will help the learner and
educator evolve as a person and indulge them in more learning activities (Bastable,
2003).
Question 2:
Gender is a puzzled when it comes to understanding the cognitive differences
that influences their learning styles as there is not much evident from any research.
However, gender related differences influences the learning styles, readiness to learn
and cognitive processing in health education settings such as nursing. The one major
difference between male and female is the cognitive thinking processes that will be
discussed. Neuroscientists have found structural and functional differences in the
processing of males and females. There is a variation between how they act regarding
certain situations such as women have the ability to identify subtle voice tones and
facial expressions but men on the other side are less sensitive to communication skills.
Women have difficulty with directions but men have a better sense of direction when
it comes to navigation and the usage of map. Women excel in the cognitive aspect
because they are better in language and verbalization whereas men are better in
mathematical abilities. It is said that the thinking processes vary according to the
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biology of the brain and the way they were raised. The activities that a person is
exposed from birth affects the cognitive development, which is similar to sensory
ones. The different stages of development causes the enhancement of maturation of
different circuits that are related to each other. There is a difference in the temporal
lobe of the brain that suggests that men have 10% of less neurons than women, which
is the reason women are more familiar with identifying melodies, languages and
speeches. Women have bigger portion of corpus callosum, which is the bridge
between left and right portion of the brain that transfers information from both side.
This is the reason why women use both sides of their brain for language that leads to
better understanding of language than men. The right hemisphere of the brain is more
dominant in men but women use both sides of their brain, which makes it more
holistic (Bastable, 2003).
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References
Bastable, S. (2003). Nurse as Educator: Principles of Teaching and Learning for
Nursing Practice (2nd ed.). Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
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