Teaching Plans Development In Nursing Education
What Development Plans
After mutually agreed upon goals and objectives have been written, it should be clear what the learner is to learn and what the teacher is to teach. A predetermined goal and related objectives serve as a basis for developing a teaching plan.
A teaching plan is a blueprint to achieve the goal and the objectives that have been developed. Along with listing the goal and objectives, this plan should indicate the purpose, content, methods, tools, timing, and evaluation of instruction. The teaching plan should clearly and concisely identify the order of these various parts of the education process.
Reasons To Development of Plan
Teaching plans are created for three major reasons:
1. To direct the teacher to look at the relationship between each of the steps of the teaching process to make sure that there is a logical approach to teaching
2. To communicate in writing exactly what is being taught, how it is being taught and evaluated, and the time allocated to meet each of the behavioral objectives. This is essential for the involvement of the patient and each member of the healthcare team.
3. To legally document that an individual plan for each learner is in place and is being properly implemented. Many healthcare agencies require evidence of teaching plans to meet internal policies, validate evidence based practices, and adhere to guidelines for accreditation.
Agencies may look to standardize documented teaching plans through the electronic medical record as a means to measure improved outcomes (Zynx Health, 2015). Teaching plans can be presented in many different formats to meet institutional requirements or the preference of the user. However, all eight components must be included for the teaching plan to be considered comprehensive and complete.
Elements of Development a Teaching Plan
A teaching plan should incorporate the following eight basic elements (Ryan & Marinelli, 1990):
1. Purpose (the why of the educational session) goal
2. Statement of the overall
3. List of objectives
4. An outline of the content to be covered in the teaching session
5. Instructional method(s) used for teaching the related content
6. Time allocated for the teaching of each objective
7. Instructional resources (materials/tools and equipment) needed
8. Method(s) used to evaluate learning
A sample teaching plan template is shown in FIGURE 10-3. This format is highly recommended because the columns allow the educator, as well as anyone else who is using it, to see all parts of the teaching plan at one time. Also, this format provides the best structure for determining whether all the elements of a plan fit together cohesively, When constructing a teaching plan, the educator must be certain that, above all else, internal consistency exists within the plan (Ryan & Marinelli, 1990 ).
A teaching plan is said to be internally consistent when all eight parts are related to one another. Adherence to the concept of internal consistency requires that the domain of learning for each objective be reflected across each of the elements of the teaching plan, from the purpose all the way through to the end process of evaluation.
All parts of the teaching plan need to relate to each other, with the over-all intention of meeting the goal. Internal consistency is the major criterion for judging the integrity of a teaching plan. For example, if the nurse has decided to teach a skill with an objective in the psychomotor domain, then the purpose, goal, objectives, content, methods of instruction, instructional materials, amount of time allocated for teaching, and evaluation methods should reflect that specific psychomotor domain.
Nurses need to know how to organize and present information in an internally consistent teaching plan. The following is an example of consistency among the first three elements of a teaching plan:
Purpose: To provide mothers of male new borns with the information necessary to perform post circumcision care. Goal: The mother will independently manage post circumcision care for her baby boy.
Objective: Following a 20-minute teaching session, the mother will be able to demonstrate the procedure for post circumcision care with each diaper change (psychomotor).
In this example, the purpose, goal, and objective reflect the psychomotor domain. The other elements of content, methods of instruction, instructional resources, time allotment, and evaluation methods also must be appropriate to the psychomotor domain as well as to ensure internal consistency of the plan. See TABLE 10-7 for a complete teaching plan on post circumcision care.
Several factors must be considered when developing a teaching plan and organizing each of the eight components. Even before the teaching plan is developed, a decision needs to be made about what domains should be included. If the purpose and goal are written to accomplish a skill that may include more than one domain, then the teaching plan should reflect one or more objectives for every domain included.
In addition, the content, methods of teaching, time allocation, resources, and methods of evaluation should flow across the plan in parallel with each objective and be appropriate for accomplishing the domain of learning related to each objective.
Also, the teacher needs to be conscious and realistic about developing certain elements of a teaching plan. For example, selecting self-instruction in an online format as a method of teaching may not be appropriate for some learners who do not know how to use or who cannot afford to have computers, smartphones, certain types of software, and access to the Internet .
Although the nurse may find one-on-one teaching the most effective with patients, the expense may be prohibitive. Selecting group discussion may be more cost effective and more appropriate in meeting the goals and objectives of a teaching plan that is the same for more than one patient with a similar diagnosis.
The content outline for each objective depends on the complexity of that objective and how it relates to the goal. The detail of the content to be taught, that is, the amount and depth of information required, depends on the assessment of the learner's needs, readiness to learn. and learning style.
The method(s) of teaching chosen also should be appropriate for the information being taught, the learners, and the setting. If, for example, the purpose is to teach a patient to self-administer medication from an asthma inhaler (psychomotor domain), then the primary methods of teaching should be demonstration and return demonstration.
However, if the purpose is to provide knowledge of what is a low-fat diet to a group of individuals with high cholesterol (cognitive domain), then lecture, programmed instruction, or group instruction would be more appropriate teaching methods.
The amount of time for teaching of each objective also must be specified. A teaching session should be no more than 15 to 20 minutes in length and certainly no more than 30 minutes. Additional teaching sessions may be required for the learner to achieve each objective and eventually reach the learning goal.
The resources to be used should match the content and support the teaching method(s). For example, when teaching breast self-examination an anatomic model of the breast plus written and audiovisual materials would be useful instructional tools.
Using a variety of resources is ideal to keep the learner's attention, address various learning styles, and reinforce information. Incorporating many different types of resources is especially helpful to the learner with low literacy skills.
Finally, the method(s) of evaluation should match the domains of each objective and validate whether the goal has been met. Evaluation methods must measure the desired learning outcomes to determine if and to what extent the learner achieves the goal.
For example, a learner recently diagnosed with coronary artery disease may have a behavioral objective to be able to state, list, or circle of the three most important symptoms of a heart attack. In this teaching situation, the evaluation method to test that knowledge could be a written post test or the oral question-and-answer approach.
In summary, nurses need to be able to develop teaching plans as part of their professional practice. Developing teaching plans is a challenging skill that should not be underestimated. Just as with any nursing care plan, all elements of a teaching plan need to relate to each other to be truly effective.
The goal is reflective of the purpose, the objectives are derived from the goal, the content is appropriate to meet the objectives, and the teaching methodology and evaluation methods as well as the resources and timing relate to the content
If any aspect in a teaching plan is not related to the overall goal, then these components must be revised. Keep in mind that the economics of the teaching plan are a realistic consideration in today's cost-driven healthcare system.
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