This ‘Big Ideas’ paper will explore the relevance of the constraintsled approach (Davids et al., 2008) for nurse education, specifically when teaching nursing skills. The constraints-led approach is an applied theory, based on the ecological-dynamics framework, which explains that skill learning is a process of adjusting to the characteristics of a situation, instead of reproducing isolated, “ideal” movements out of context (Araújo et al., 2017; Seifert et al., 2017, 2019). During nurse education however, students often find themselves in isolated practice drills in which they practice a nursing skill based upon detailed protocols and/or explicit instructions by the lecturer. Following the ecological dynamics framework (Button et al., 2021), we argue that there is no single ideal way of executing a certain task. In clinical practice, there are often more than one appropriate task executions for a certain situation, and on the other hand, a certain task execution might be effective in one situation, but less effective in another. As all patients and contexts contain unique characteristics, students need to practice with representative characteristics from clinical practice, so that they learn attuning to contextual information, instead of simply following step-by-step instructions (Fajen et al., 2009; Pinder et al., 2011; Wulf and Lewthwaite, 2016).
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Introduction: Nursing education traditionally teaches skill acquisition in isolated practice drills and guided by step-by-step protocols. While these approaches may seem to provide a solid foundation, they do not adequately bridge the gap between a controlled learning environment and the reality of nursing practice. The constraints-led approach (CLA) is an applied theory, which explains that skill acquisition is a process of adjusting to the characteristics of a situation, instead of reproducing isolated, “ideal” movements out of context. Given that CLA has gained recognition as an effective learning method in various fields, it is worth investigating how CLA can be implemented for skill acquisition in nursing education. Methods: To gain insight into student experiences of several CLA-exercises, an explorative qualitative design was used. Ten longitudinal focus groups with nursing students (n = 11) were performed to gain deeper understanding of students’ experiences with an education course in which several “CLA-exercises” were integrated. In addition, the teachers (n = 3) involved were interviewed after the course was completed. Results: The students experienced the education course as enjoyable, challenging and reality-based. Also, the exercises motivated students to keep practicing. The students further appreciated the room for autonomy and self-organization. The teachers expressed enthusiasm for CLA-inspired education, noting the benefits of varied methods and the need for expert feedback and well-working practice materials. Conclusion: Both students and teachers felt confident that the students who completed this course were ready to apply the learned skills under supervision in clinical practice.
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In most primary science classes, students are taught science skills by way of learning by doing. Research shows that explicit instruction may be more effective. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of explicit instruction in an inquiry-based learning setting on the acquisition of science skills for students in primary education. Participants included 705 Dutch 5th and 6th graders. Students were randomly assigned to either an explicit instruction condition including an 8-week intervention of explicit instruction on inquiry skills; an implicit condition in which students were taught by learning by doing; or a baseline condition in which students followed their regular science curriculum. To assess the effects, measurement instruments for evaluating the acquisition of science skills were developed. Results of a multi-level analysis indicated that explicit instruction facilitates development of science skills. Therefore, this study provides a strong argument for including an explicit teaching method for developing science skills in primary science education.
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The growing use of digital media has led to a society with plenty of new opportunities for knowledge exchange, communication and entertainment, but also less desirable effects like fake news or cybercrime. Several studies, however, have shown that children are less digital literate than expected. Digital literacy has consequently become a key part within the new national educational policy plans titled Curriculum.nu and the Dutch research and policy agendas. This research project is focused on the role the game sector can play in the development of digital literacy skills of children. In concrete, we want to understand the value of the use of digital literacy related educational games in the context of primary education. Taking into consideration that the childhood process of learning takes place through playing, several studies claim that the introduction of the use of technology at a young age should be done through play. Digital games seem a good fit but are themselves also part of digital media we want young people to be literate about. Furthermore, it needs to be taken into account that digital literacy of teachers can be limited as well. The interactive, structured nature of digital games offers potential here as they are less dependent on the support and guidance of an adult, but at the same time this puts even more emphasis on sensible game design to ensure the desired outcome. The question is, then, if and how digital games are best designed to foster the development of digital literacy skills. By harnessing the potential of educational games, a consortium of knowledge and practice partners aim to show how creating theoretical and practical insights about digital literacy and game design can aid the serious games industry to contribute to the societal challenges concerning contemporary literacy demands.
Every organisation needs to have organised Company Emergency Response (CER) staff. The training of CER must combine knowledge acquisition with knowledge application in performing physical procedures and demonstrating skills. However, current training does not secure well-prepared CER-staff in the long term. Playful learning is that a more engaging type of training can be created which combines knowledge with skills training. But while social interactions can strongly and positively impact learning as well as motivation, this is not easily facilitated within digital learning environments Two questions are particularly important for playful learning designers: • How can playful learning make use of the combination of digital and non-digital working mechanisms to foster learning and motivation? • How can trainees learn and play together if they are not always present at the same time in within the same learning environment? The saying at IJsfontein is that individually you can progress, but only together you can persevere. The aim of this collaboration with Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen is to provide playful learning designers with concrete and reusable design guidelines for leveraging social processes in playful learning across the digital/non-digital boundary. As such, we seek to contribute to the practically-oriented design knowledge available to the creative industry through design research that is grounded in practice. This type of design knowledge can only be fully developed when evaluated across different contexts of application. Therefore, we will form a consortium of partners from the creative industry to write a joint follow-up funding application
Every organisation needs to have organised Company Emergency Response (CER) staff. The training of CER must combine knowledge acquisition with knowledge application in performing physical procedures and demonstrating skills. However, current training does not secure well-prepared CER-staff in the long term.Playful learning is that a more engaging type of training can be created which combines knowledge with skills training. But while social interactions can strongly and positively impact learning as well as motivation, this is not easily facilitated within digital learning environmentsTwo questions are particularly important for playful learning designers:• How can playful learning make use of the combination of digital and non-digital working mechanisms to foster learning and motivation?• How can trainees learn and play together if they are not always present at the same time in within the same learning environment?The saying at IJsfontein is that individually you can progress, but only together you can persevere. The aim of this collaboration with Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen is to provide playful learning designers with concrete and reusable design guidelines for leveraging social processes in playful learning across the digital/non-digital boundary. As such, we seek to contribute to the practically-oriented design knowledge available to the creative industry through design research that is grounded in practice.This type of design knowledge can only be fully developed when evaluated across different contexts of application. Therefore, we will form a consortium of partners from the creative industry to write a joint follow-up funding application
