Proposed Teaching Plan (Coursework Sample)

Proposed Teaching Program
Name
Institution
Abstract
Diabetics face various complications that present a significant challenge to nurses. Among such problems, foot complications constitute a debilitating and expensive problem that diabetic patients face, requiring nurses to implement proper foot screening to promote timely identification and subsequent treatment and management. The goal of this four-hour teaching session is to equip nurses with appropriate knowledge and skills in undertaking screening for diabetic foot complications. The objectives of the teaching program are to (1) highlight the risks, clinical signs, and symptoms of diabetic foot neuropathy, ischemia, and infection; and (2) to equip nurses with a masterful understanding of how to provide appropriate care and refer diabetic foot disease patients. The target audience for this teaching program consists of primary care nurses already handling diabetic patients and those providing podiatry services, both of whom may have to manage diabetic patients with foot complications. The teaching program will be based on cognitive theory, a constructivist theoretical underpinning in which self-directed learners receive learning guidance rather than all of the directions to knowledge. This theoretical underpinning is informed by Piaget's developmental theory, which attaches importance to giving certain amounts of guidance based on a combination of learners' developmental progress and intellectual level. The teaching program will entail two sessions, one taking place in a classroom setting for theoretical knowledge and the other taking place in a practice setting to underpin practical knowledge. The teaching strategies will entail an illustrated lecture method and discussion for the first-hour theoretical session covering the whole group of learners, as well as practical demonstration under a podiatrist's tutelage and group work in small groups for the second-hour practical session.
Teaching Philosophy
“Each student is unique, and therefore, should create their own individualized learning style.”
Learning in education refers to the process of how new information from instructional materials is absorbed, managed, and retained. There exist various theories based on different conceptual frameworks that aim to explain and further the understanding of how learning processes take place. People are unique in numerous ways, which also includes the way that they learn new information in their daily lives and/or in school. Students possess different learning abilities, and a good teacher/instructor should possess the skills to recognize the different learning abilities. They should in turn design their instructional or teaching methods to suit their pupils’ needs in line with their set learning objectives and/or goals.
Effective learning outcomes and goals include ensuring that students acquire knowledge pertaining to human cultures, their natural and physical world, and foster the development of intellectual and practical skills. Education should also promote personal and social responsibility among students that should be characterized by integrative and applied learning that includes accomplishment and synthesis across specialized and general studies. The cognitive theory of learning is akin to this envisaged outcome as it encourages and promotes an all-inclusive learning and teaching approach. Students have different capacities to process new information, which also takes place in various ways that are different for each student. The cognitive theory emphasizes on the need to allow students use their unique information processing abilities to achieve the abovementioned learning objectives. Piaget’s developmental theory can also be applied to inform decision making processes especially when deciding on when to introduce certain or particular stages of a curriculum. This identifies key stages in students’ development when they are best suited to assimilate and accommodate new learning experiences.
Critical Analysis of Teaching Plan
This critical analysis section relies on literature to review the development of the teaching plan and justify the choices made in the teaching plan. The areas covered are the formulation of the purpose of the teaching plan, the teaching strategies adopted, the structure and delivery of the content, learning environment, assessment of learning, and evaluation of the teaching session.
Purpose of the Teaching Plan
The teaching plan seeks to equip nurses in screening diabetic patients for foot complications, which would help solve a significant problem given the impact of diabetic foot disease. In this case, diabetic foot complications are a major problem, whose effective solution depends on proper screening that would then allow appropriate treatment and management. In establishing this purpose of the teaching plan, a problem-solving approach was undertaken, which aligns with the characteristics of adult learners as based on andragogy learning concepts. Onyon (2012) conceptualizes such problem-based learning as an approach in which clinical problems form the learning starting point, where working through such problems enables the learners to gain the targeted knowledge and skills.
Andragogy-informed approaches view adult learners as being more interested in immediate problem-centered learning when compared to non-adult learners (Abela 2009; Henschke, 2011). Here, adults decide to participate in learning because they deem it crucial to help solve certain problems arising in their work. As a result, formulating the purpose of the present teaching plan to fit the problem solving perspective helps make it attractive to the target audience and appeal to their need to gain heightened problem-solving skills. Further, the formulation of the purpose of the training aligns with Egle’s (2009) argument that adult learners need to see the relevance of the topic and content in their practice or life, without which they may not find the motivation necessary to take part in the training constructively. Further, this approach to establishing the purpose of the teaching plan also aligns with the personal teaching philosophy drawn from the constructivist cognitive theory. In this case, Brandon and All (2010) argue that teaching should be learner-centered, allowing learners to establish ways of understanding information. A problem-centered approach provides an appropriate strategy to make the teaching session learner-centered and allow the instructor and the learners to take part in the session together.
Teaching Strategies
The instructional strategies planned for the training entail a combination of lecture method, discussion, demonstration, and self-directed practical work, each fitting the different sessions of the training. The rationale for these strategies follows the learning characteristics of the target audience, theoretical assumptions about adult learning, and personal teaching philosophy as derived from cognitive theory and Piaget’s developmental theory. The lecture method helps introduce the topic and stress the need for the training while assuming that the nurses have base knowledge about diabetic foot complications. The discussion approach is informed by adult learners’ preference for active involvement during the lesson, which necessitates involving the learners in discussions and demonstration when presenting the content (Egle, 2009). Further, Piaget’s development theory holds that teaching should be shaped according to the learner’s development and intellectual level (Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2012; Orey, 2010). In Piaget’s theory, adult learners would occupy the final stage of cognitive development in which individuals have the ability to think abstractly. Given that adult learners are at the apex of cognitive development, direct involvement through discussions constitutes an appropriate teaching strategy.
The preference for discussion and demonstration teaching strategies also follow the cognitive theory constructivist provisions. In this case, constructivism views learning as an active process through which learners build new concepts and ideas based on their current knowledge (Brandon & All, 2010). This constructivist approach fits the adult learners targeted by the proposed training program because the learners already bear varying levels of knowledge in diabetic foot disease and screening. Starting from their base knowledge and working upwards provides a more appropriate teaching strategy, which informs the discussion and demonstration teaching strategies.
In keeping in line with the Piaget’s view that teaching should be suited to the appropriate level of cognitive development, the proposed training program adopts a self-directed practice teaching strategy to complete the training. In this case, the learners will practice foot screening in small groups under the guidance of podiatrist. This teaching strategy aligns with the constructivist view that the instructor only needs to provide guidance rather than provide all directions to knowledge (Willis, 2009). As a result, the present training program uses a two-hour practice session to promote learning among the nurses.
In addition, Mattiske (2011) argues that adult learners expect immediate application of the knowledge gained, require active involvement in the lesson, need practice and reinforcement, and incline towards problem solving. Such characteristics indicate that a self-directed practical approach is an appropriate teaching design for the nurses targeted by the current training program. According to Gaberson and Oermann (2011), self-directed learning activities are designed by instructors, but intended for completion by the student themselves in a scenario that minimizes tutor involvement as exemplified by roles limited to guidan...