Capella University

MSN FP6105

Learning Theories and Diversity
Introduction
“Our job is to teach the students we have. Not the ones we would like to have. Not the
ones we used to have. Those we have right now. All of them.” -Dr. Kevin Maxwell
The process of nursing education and professional development occurs in various ways in
different settings. In academia, nurse educators teach the fundamentals of nursing practice that
will prepare nursing students to enter the workforce. In the hospital setting, nurse educators work
with nursing staff on the implementation of new evidence-based approaches and new
technologies into clinical practice, development of customer-centered attitudes and support
nursing professionals in the advancement of their career. Nurse educators also work with
patients, teaching them different aspects of the disease process, ways to improve health and
adjust unhealthy behaviors. Regardless of the setting and a primary focus, it is accurate to say
that nurse educators are change agents that have a difficult and unique opportunity to influence
those that they coach to be better. In order to optimize this opportunity, nurse educators, shall
understand various learning theories and be able to best apply them depending on the diversity of
learners and environments where learning has to take place.
Learning theory that applies to a selected educational topic and audience.
There are two mainstream learning theories that guide practice today: behaviorist theories
and cognitive theories. Behaviorist believed that learning is an acquisition of knowledge and
skills that changes a person’s behavior, while cognitivism concentrates on how knowledge is
acquired without emphasis on behavioral changes. Within cognitive theories, in the last 20 years,
frameworks have been developed with the focus on constructive learning, where the informatio