Learning Professional Knowledge: Bachelor Nursing Students’ Experiences in Learning and Knowledge Quality Outcomes in a Competence-Based Curriculum

Since decades, nursing education struggles with a persistent gap between the theoretical knowledge offered in the study program and its application in professional practice. To bridge this gap competence-based curricula were developed with instructional designs as authentic learning contexts and self-directed learning. In this project we explored final year Bachelor Nursing (BN) students’ experiences in learning in a newly developed curriculum, and their knowledge quality outcomes and the degree of agreement with knowledge requirements. An instrumental multiple case study was conducted with interviews, concept mapping and a domain knowledge list. Results show that a third of the participants had positive learning experiences and got high appraisals for their knowledge quality. Similar to the medium and low scoring participants, they developed instrumental knowledge but integrated other forms of learning into a system of meaning, which is needed to solve non-routine problems in future practice. Medium and low scoring participants did not profit from learning in authentic contexts and self-directed learning. In conclusion, developing sufficient professional knowledge in a constructivist competence-based curriculum is influenced by students’ intrinsic motivation to build a strong knowledge base, by their perception of how to learn and use professional knowledge, and their expectations of the degree of supervision and guidance by the teacher. It is recommended to evaluate the extent to which the intended curriculum is being taught

Development of university teachers’ professional vision of students’ prior knowledge during a short pedagogical training

To support university students’ learning, teaching should build on students’ prior knowledge. Therefore, teachers need skills to pay attention to students’ knowledge in teaching-learning situations. Teachers’ underlying conceptual knowledge affects the way they see and interpret situations in classrooms, which is called professional vision. This study examined university teachers’ (N = 53 from different faculties, current and future faculty) professional vision and misconceptions from the perspective of the role of prior knowledge in learning, when watching and interpreting short videos of teaching-learning situations at the start of and after a short pedagogical training. Additionally, participants’ conceptions, beliefs and approaches to teaching and learning were investigated with a questionnaire. The results show that before the training, there were differences between the teachers from different faculties, but after the training all the teachers scored better in their professional vision concerning prior knowledge. Prospective teachers’ professional vision developed even more than those of current faculty. Furthermore, more developed professional vision was related to more constructivist beliefs of learning. The results show that even short pedagogical interventions can improve teachers’ pedagogical vision. Pedagogical implications of the results are discussed.Peer reviewe

Classroom Management Scripts: a Theoretical Model Contrasting Expert and Novice Teachers' Knowledge and Awareness of Classroom Events

Dealing with the complexities of the classroom and the diversity of events in classroom situations presents a major challenge for classroom management. The knowledge a teacher has for processing this complexity depends a great deal on their level of experience, leading to differences in the way teachers perceive and interpret classroom events. This includes how they monitor events and how they maintain an ongoing awareness of classroom situations. It also impacts decisions about when and how to act in response to events. Research on classroom management has often focused on how to handle common classroom situations, but does not provide a theoretical description of how knowledge from experience affects teachers' awareness and ability to manage the classroom. This article proposes a definition forclassroom management scriptsby contrasting expert and novice teachers' knowledge and their decisions to act in response to classroom events. Classroom management scripts help clarify differences in teachers' recognition and representation of events by considering how expertise influences visual perception and mental interpretation. The proposed model exposes the internal cognitive processing involved in classroom management. Such insights can be useful for helping teacher educators and teachers themselves analyze and make sense of puzzling events. In turn, this may help develop training approaches to improve teachers' awareness of factors easily overlooked when considering classroom management, enhancing professional vision. This theory also underlines the centrality of facilitating and sustaining learning when grappling with the challenges of managing a classroom

Effects of conceptual knowledge and availability of information sources on law students' legal reasoning.

Abstract Due to the complexity of the legal domain, reasoning about law cases is a very complex skill. For novices in law school, legal reasoning is even more complex because they have not yet acquired the conceptual knowledge needed for distilling the relevant information from cases, determining applicable rules, and searching for rules and exceptions in external information sources such as lawbooks. This study investigated the role of conceptual knowledge in solving legal cases when no information sources can be used. Under such 'unsupported' circumstances, novice and advanced students performed less well than domain experts, but even experts' performance was rather low. The second question addressed was whether novices even benefit from the availability of information sources (i.e., lawbook), because conceptual knowledge is prerequisite for effective use of such sources. Indeed availability of the lawbook positively affected performance only for advanced students but not for novice students. Implications for learning and instruction in the domain of law are discussed

The role of positional knowledge and tonal approaches in cellists’ sight-reading

Sight-reading is an important skill for amateur and professional musicians. Several factors seem to play a role in sight-reading skills, such as expertise level, ear training, mental speed and improvisation skills. If we are right in supposing that these factors cannot easily be generalized for all musicians, one of the reasons for this must surely lie in the fact that different musical instruments set different technical requirements for the player. The purpose of this study was to investigate which factors help cello students have better sight-reading abilities. Amateur cello students (N = 79) were tested for position knowledge, use of tonal and positional approaches and actual sight-reading ability, and their sight-reading performance was measured by counting pitch and fluency errors they made in short pieces of varying complexity. This study used a partly correlational (use of tonal/positional approaches, technical level, experience, and position knowledge) and a partly experimental repeated-measures design (key complexity). The findings suggest that position knowledge shows a very strong negative correlation with the number of sight-reading errors and a weak correlation with pauses. Use of positional approaches shows no significantly stronger correlation with the number of sight-reading errors than the use of tonal approaches. In addition, it appears that an increase in the key complexity leads to more sight-reading errors and more pauses. Finally, the position knowledge and technical level of participants explain 83% of the variation in the total pitch errors. Experience and use of tonal approaches explain 40% of the variation in the number of short pauses.</p

Appraising the Qualities of Social Work Students’ Theoretical Knowledge: A Qualitative Exploration

Van Bommel, M., Boshuizen, H. P. A., & Kwakman, K. (2012). Appraising the qualities of social work students' theoretical knowledge: A qualitative exploration. Vocations and Learning, 5, 277-295. doi:10.1007/s12186-012-9078-9Higher professional education aims to prepare students for entering practice with an adequate theoretical body of knowledge. In constructivist programmes, authentic learning contexts and self-directed learning are assumed to support knowledge learning and the transition from education to practice. Through an in-depth exploration, this case study aimed at defining and assessing the qualities of social work students’ theoretical knowledge at initial qualification. Participants were final-year bachelor’s students (n=18) in a constructivist professional programme of social work. Students’ knowledge concerning a real-life practical case was elicited through an interview and a form of concept mapping. A six-step procedure was used for a qualitative appraisal of students’ knowledge with the assistance of seven expert teachers. During this procedure an instrument for analysing knowledge qualities was developed, comprising 13 aspects representing four features of expert knowledge: extent, depth, structure, and critical control. Results showed that 13 students received high appraisals for their knowledge extent and depth. Only 4 students received high appraisals for knowledge structure and critical control. 5 Students who received overall lower appraisals seemed inhibited to show their knowledge qualities by preoccupations with self-concerns about their own professional role. Conclusion is that the majority of students needs more learning support for knowledge structure and critical control than offered by their constructivist programme. Further research is needed into the personal factors that influence students’ theoretical knowledge learning and which knowledge qualities can be reached by young adults in a four year educational programme.Hogeschool Arnhem Nijmege