10/14/2016

Paper:ConceptMappingAnemia:TransferringOwnershipinLearningtotheNursingStudent(SigmaThetaTauInternational's26thInternationalNursin

Start|BrowsebyDay|AuthorIndex|KeywordIndex

ConceptMappingAnemia:TransferringOwnershipinLearningtotheNursingStudent

Friday,24July2015
JaclynnS.Huse,PhD,RN,CNE
SchoolofNursing,SouthernAdventistUniversity,Collegedale,TN
Theconceptofteachingandlearninginschoolsofnursinghastransformedinthe21st century.Severaltheoriesoflearningareresponsibleforthischange
ineducationalperspectives.First,Ausubelsmeaningfullearningtheorydescribestheprocessofmovingawayfromreceptivelearningwherecontentis
presentedtothestudentinitsfinalform,allowingnoopportunityforknowledgeexpansion(Driscoll,2005).Ausebelfoundthatwhenstudentswererequired
torearrangecontentandintegrateitintowhattheyalreadyknowandunderstand,thentheinformationcanbetransformedintomoremeaningful
knowledge.Theconstructivisttheory,influencedbyovereightyyearsofworkbyphilosophizersandtheoristsincludingPiaget,Bruner&Vygotsky,Dewey,
Goodman,vonGlasersfeld,andKuhn,expandedontheactivelearningconceptinthatlearnersconstructknowledgeinanefforttomakesenseandof
everythingtheyhaveexperienced.Constructivismnotonlyencouragesstudentownershipofthelearningprocessbutitalsorecognizestheimportanceof
collaborativelearningandproblemscaffolding(Billings&Halstead,2009Driscoll,2005).
Schoolsofnursinghavebeenintegratingdifferentteachingstrategiesthatencourageanactivelearningprocess.Conceptmappingisanexampleofthis
teachingstrategythatrequireslearnerstoorganizeinformationanddemonstratethelinkagebetweenconceptsandsubconcepts(Billings&Halstead,2009).
InarecentqualitativeanalysisonnursingstudentsperceptionsofconceptmapsconductedbyHarrisonandGibbons(2013),itwasfoundthatconcept
mappinghelpedgiveavisualsummaryofwhatwaslearnedaswellashelpedstudentstoreflectonhowtheknowledgecanbetransferredfromtheoryto
clinicalpracticealthoughsomestudentsfoundthelearningprocesstobealittlelongerandmoretedious.Inacriticalanalysisof24quantitativestudiesthat
exploredthebenefitsofconceptmapping,Pudelko,Young,VincentLamarre,andCharlin(2012)concludedthatconceptmappingwasmoreeffectiveifit
wascombinedwithcollaborativelearning,scaffolding,andfeedback.
Inatraditionalpathophysiologyoradulthealthclassroom,studentswouldoftenhearalengthyPowerPointlectureonhematologyaccompaniedbyan
explanationofthemanydifferentindividualtypesofanemias.Thelecturewouldproceedfromonetypeofanemiatothenextwithoutefforttodistinguishthe
similaritiesanddifferencesbetweeneachofthem.In2006,thisauthorcreatedaconceptmapforapathophysiologycourseinordertocompareand
contrasteachoftheanemiasandtohighlightthatanemiaisageneraltermthatencompassesmanyspecifictypesofanemiaswithdifferentetiologies.The
conceptmapisasingle8x14sheetofpaperthatputsthegeneralconceptofanemiainacirclerightinthecenterofthepage.Studentsaregivenadetailed
setofinstructionsandthentheydivideintogroupsof34students.Thesestudentgroupsusemultipleresourcesincludingtextbooksandelectronicresources
tofindthegeneralsymptomsofalltypesofanemiasandtheyputthisinthecentercircle.Thiscircleisthenconnectedtothreesmallercirclesthat
demonstratethethreemajorcausesofallanemiaswhicharea)decreasedredbloodcellproduction,b)inheriteddisordersthatdecreaseordestroyred
bloodcells,andc)extrinsicredbloodcelllossordestruction(Copstead&Banasik,2012).Thesesmallercirclesofmajorcausesareconnectedtomultiple
boxesthatsurroundeachcircle.Withintheseboxes,studentsfillinthedifferenttypesofanemiasthatareineachofthesecategories.Thedifferenttypesof
anemiasincludedonthemapareiron,folicacid,&B12deficiencies,aplasticanemia,chronicrenalfailure,sicklecell,thalassemia,G6PD,hereditary
spherocytosis,hemolyticdiseaseinthenewborn,antibodymediateddrugreactions,andacutebloodloss.Specificinformationincludesthepathophysiology
ofeachanemia,theuniquesignsandsymptomsseenonlywiththatparticulartypeofanemia,andthetypicaltreatmentoptionsforthatdisease.
Thisconceptmapassignmenthasreplacedthetraditionallectureonhematologyanditiscompletedduringtheregularclassperiod.Studentsworkingroups
allovertheclassroomwhiletheinstructorinteractswitheachgroupandhelpsguidethelearningactivity.Ittypicallytakesnearlytwohourstocompleteand
studentsreceivequizcreditforcompletingit.Theconceptmapbecomestheirnotesforthisparticularweekoflearningandthatiswhattheystudyfromfor
theirunitandfinalexam.Whentheconceptmapisinitiallyintroducedtothestudents,theytendtohavealookofpanicandanxietyoverhavingthisastheir
onlysourceofnotesfortheweek.However,bytheendoftheclassperiod,theyrecognizehowusefulthelearningexperiencewasandhaveoften
commentedonthecourseevaluationsthatthehematologyweekendedupbeingtheirfavoritecontentandtheywishedthattherewereotherconceptsthat
couldbetaughtinsimilarfashionbecauseitreducedthevolumeofmaterial,butitalsohelpedthemmakemeaningfulconnectionsbetweenallofthe
anemias.Theyfeltliketheynolongerhadtositandmemorizeeachanemiaindividuallywhichresultedindisconnectedthoughtprocesses.Thisconceptmap
hasbeenusedsuccessfullyfor19consecutivesemestersandinthatamountoftimetherehasbeennonegativefeedbackontheconceptmaponthecourse
evaluations.Furthermore,studentsscoreeitherequallyaswellorbetteronthiscontentontheteststhaninotherareasofpathophysiology.Itshouldbe
notedthatthisconceptmaphasalsobeensuccessfullyimplementedintotheonlineandhybridversionofpathophysiology.
Thisconceptmapwilldemonstrateanactivelearning,constructivistteachingstrategythatenablesstudentstotakeownershipoftheirlearningexperience
andcreatemoremeaningfulknowledgeratherthanjustrotememoryofdisconnecteddetails.Asnursingschoolsattempttoimplementmoremeaningful
learningexperiencesintothecurriculum,itisimportanttouseevidencebasedstrategiesthatenhancetheclassroomenvironmentandpreparethestudent
toreadilytransfertheknowledgefromtheoryintopractice.
Billings,D.M.,&Halstead,J.A.(2009).Teachinginnursing:Aguideforfaculty.(3rded.).St.Louis,MI:SaundersElsevier.
Copstead,LC.,Banasik,J.L.(2012).Pathophysiology.(5thed.).St.Louis,MI:SaundersElsevier.
Driscoll,M.P.(2005).Psychologyoflearningforinstruction.(3rded.).Boston:Pearson.
Harrison,S.,&Gibbons,C.(2013).Nursingstudentperceptionsofconceptmaps:Fromtheorytopractice.NursingEducationPerspectives34(6):395399.
Pudelko,B.,Young,M.,VincentLamarre,P.,&Charlin,B.(2012).Mappingasalearningstrategyinhealthprofessionseducation:Acriticalanalysis.Medical
Education2012,46:12151225.

https://stti.confex.com/stti/congrs15/webprogram/Paper71097.html

1/2

10/14/2016

Paper:ConceptMappingAnemia:TransferringOwnershipinLearningtotheNursingStudent(SigmaThetaTauInternational's26thInternationalNursin
Seemoreof:EvidenceBasedPracticePosterSession1
Seemoreof:EvidenceBasedPracticeSessions:OralPaper&Posters

https://stti.confex.com/stti/congrs15/webprogram/Paper71097.html

2/2