Download Week 6 Unit 6: The Health Education Process: Teaching is a

Week 6
Unit 6: The Health Education Process:
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Teaching is a specialized communication process in which desired behavior changes are achieved.
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The goal of all teaching is learning. Learning is an idea to mean gaining knowledge (recalls, knows),
comprehension (understands) , or mastery( Application) (uses learning). These are nebulous (vague ) terms, and a
more acceptable definition suggests.
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learning is a process of assimilating (understanding) new information that promotes a permanent change in
behavior.
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Domains of learning
1. Cognitive Domain
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The cognitive domain of learning involves the mind and thinking processes. When the meaning and relationship of
a series of facts is grasped, cognitive learning is experienced.
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The cognitive domain deals with the recall or recognition of knowledge and the development of intellectual
abilities and skills.
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There are six major levels in the cognitive domain :
a. knowledge: This level may be used with clients who are unable to understand underlying reasons or rationales,
such as young children or people who have had strokes. Stroke clients may need to remember that medication
should be taken daily, that regular exercise restores function, and that drinking alcohol should be avoided,
although they may not grasp the reasons behind these measures. Five-year-olds may need to identify healthful
foods rather than understand why they are nutritious.
b. Comprehension: The second level of cognitive learning, comprehension, combines remembering with
understanding.
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Teaching aims at instilling at least a minimal understanding. Nurses want clients to grasp the meaning and to
recognize the importance of suggested health behaviors.
c. Application: Application approaches the possibility of self-care when clients use their knowledge to improve
their own health.
The test of application is a transfer of understanding into practice.
d. Analysis: at this level, the learner breaks down material into parts, distinguishes between elements, and
understands the relationships among the parts.
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This level of learning becomes a preliminary step toward problem-solving.
e. Synthesis: Synthesis, the fifth level of cognitive learning, is the ability not only to break down and understand
the elements of a situation but also to form elements into a new whole.
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Synthesis combines all of the earlier levels of cognitive learning to culminate in the production of a unique plan or
solution.
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f. Evaluation: at this level, the learner judges the usefulness of new material compared with a stated purpose or
specific criteria
2. Affective Domain:
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The affective domain in which learning occurs involves emotion, feeling, or affect. This kind of learning deals
with changes in interest, attitudes, and values Consistent practice is a crucial test at this level.
3. Psychomotor Domain:
The psychomotor domain includes visible, demonstrable performance skills that require some kind of
neuromuscular coordination.
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Clients in the community need to learn skills such as infant bathing, temperature taking, breast or testicular selfexamination, prenatal breathing exercises, range-of-motion exercises, catheter irrigation, walking with crutches,
and how to change dressings.
Learning theories
1. Behavioral Learning Theories: focusing on behaviors that can be observed, measured, and changed. Developed
early in the 20th century, behavioral theory work is associated primarily with famous names: Ivan Pavlov (1957),
Pavlov conditioned a dog to anticipate food by ringing a bell at feeding time. Initially, the dog would salivate as
the food was brought to the cage. However, after time, the dog would salivate at hearing the bell, before seeing or
smelling the food.
2. Cognitive Learning Theories: Piaget (1966, 1970) believed that cognitive development is an orderly, sequential,
and interactive process in which a variety of new experiences must exist before intellectual abilities can develop.
His work with children led him to develop five phases of cognitive development, from birth to 15 years of age,
Nurses must understand their audience’s learning stage to ascertain how to approach teaching for that
developmental stage.
3. Social Learning Theories: Social learning theory focuses on the learners. They are benefitted by role models,
building self-confidence, persuasion, and personal mastery. Self-efficacy can lead to the desired behaviors and
outcomes.
Teaching–Learning Principles
1. Client Readiness: physical readiness, emotional readiness, experiential readiness, knowledge readiness
(educational background).
2. Client Perceptions: variables include values, past experiences, culture, religion, personality developmental stage,
educational and economic level, surrounding social forces, and the physical environment.
3. Educational Environment: Students probably have had the experience of sitting in a cold room and trying to
concentrate during a lecture or of being distracted by noise, heat, or uncomfortable seating.
4. Client Participation: Contracting in the context of teaching assists clients to develop a sense of accountability for
their own learning.
5. Subject Relevance: Learners gain the most from subject matter that is immediately useful to their own purposes.
6. Client Satisfaction: Learners need to feel a sense of steady progress in the learning process. Obstacles, frustrations, and
failures along the way discourage and impede learning.
7. Client Application: Opportunities arise during the teaching–learning process, clients can try out new knowledge and
skills under supervision. Learners are given an opportunity to begin integrating the learning into their daily lives at a time
when the teacher is there to help reinforce that pattern.