Learning to let go: the challenge of de-crowding the curriculum.

Full Abstract

Nurse educators often lament there is not enough time to teach all the content students need to learn. Every year, information regarding healthcare increases exponentially. Typically, educators respond by increasing content without removing outdated information resulting in overcrowded courses. Little time is left for meaningful learning of concepts and life-long learning skills to sustain graduates throughout their careers. Reliance on conventional teacher-centered approaches to curriculum development have generated calls from professional organizations for innovative education programs. Innovation begins by shifting focus from massive amounts of content to teaching essential concepts and abilities necessary for today's health care environment. Decreasing the overload of content is imperative when moving from a teaching centered to a learning-centered curricula. Instead of concentrating on rote memorization, students engage in meaningful learning. De-crowding the curriculum can be frustrating because there is no quick fix. The challenge is to consider both faculty philosophical beliefs and assumptions about how students learn. Assumptions and beliefs regarding teaching, learning, essential content, and the learning environment should be clear from the outset. Without considering assumptions and beliefs efforts to de-crowd the curriculum rapidly devolve into a test of wills between faculty members. The authors present an overview of learning-centered education, a systematic method for de-crowding the curriculum, and a discussion of challenges encountered.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Dalley, Karla (K); Candela, Lori (L); Benzel-Lindley, Jean (J);

Affiliation: University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89154-3018, USA. Karla.dalley(-atsign-)unlv.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Review

Journal: Nurse education today (Nurse Educ Today), published in Scotland. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Jan; vol 28 (issue 1) : pp 62-9

Dates: Created 2007/12/10; Completed 2008/04/09;

PMID: 17397973, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Curriculum
Education, Nursing

Humans
Learning

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.