Learning style in theoretical courses: nursing students' perceptions and experiences

Learning style as a whole is less regarded in nursing education. This study was conducted to explore, describe, and illustrate students' perceptions and experiences of learning style. The multiplicity feature of students' learning style in theoretical courses is presented in this article. In this qualitative study, 16 bachelor and master students in different academic semesters were selected through purposeful sampling and interviewed using deep and semi-structured interviews. All interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed and then analyzed using constant comparison based on Strauss and Corbin 's method. Students' learning style in theoretical courses as the main theme comprised 8 sub-themes including learning through question and answer; learning through example, story, and objective instances [visualizing or exemplifying intellectually]; observational or visual learning; learning through organizing the content; learning through practice and homework; learning through active participation and cooperation; learning through making to think and get motivated; and, learning through listening and note-taking. Students make use of different learning styles or a combination of them based on the type of content, environment, and educational situation. Students' learning style is highly influenced by instructors teaching style who are more focused on their teaching style and completing their course syllabus. Nursing instructors, students, and curriculum planners could use the introduced styles in this study in order to modify and promote the quality of nursing education

Teaching styles in clinical nursing education: a qualitative approach

Background and purpose: There are many studies about nursing clinical settings and their problems, but the teaching style of teachers on the bedside has not been studied as a whole. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess, describe and interpret nursing trainers' perceptions of the teaching style in clinical settings

Methods and Materials: The grounded theory approach was used to conduct this study. Fifteen nursing teachers were interviewed individually in 2006-2007. The interview protocols were tape-recorded and later transcribed verbatim. The transcriptions were analyzed using Strauss and Corbin's method

Results: Three major themes and 12 sub-themes emerged from the study data which portray the clinical teaching styles of the nursing teachers. The main themes are multiple styles in teaching, nature of clinical teaching, control and adaptation in the educational atmosphere and multiplicity in teaching style. Individualized styles were observable across teachers, but they varied across situations, type of skills [content], educational environment and facilities, levels of the learners, and the control and accommodation of teachers with the teaching atmosphere

Conclusion: Although teaching style is a complex phenomenon, but this study has helped emerge some of the rules and principles of clinical training of nurses