Reflection on Trends of Active Learning in teaching HCA's

Teaching in the Health Care Industry, and many other industries, is increasingly involving Active

Learning strategies. Students today are more used to interacting while they learn

(Academy of Learning, 2014) and studies have shown that students learn better when actively

engaged in the learning process. Students need to be able to apply what they have learned, and be

competent in knowing what to do when problems arise. Therefore, a necessary component of all

HCA programs, as well as LPN and RN, is the practicum and preceptorship. This is a definite

form of active learning, where the students are applying what they have learned to real life

situations under the supervision of a facilitator. This has been around for a long time, however,

there is an increasing trend in employing active learning in the classroom as well. For example,

students are given realistic scenarios and asked to come up with solutions, thus developing

critical thinking skills that will be utilized in the future workplace. There are "Lab days" where

students go into a room set up as a real resident's/patient's room and they actively apply

techniques for resident/patient care, this helps them to remember tasks involved.

As a future teacher of HCA's I will be including all of the above in my teaching practice as well as

adding stories from my own experiences which we will then discuss as a group. I will be

continuously focusing on incorporating more active learning when designing lessons.


References:
http://www.academyoflearning.ab.ca/blog/active-learning-in-the-classroom/