Determinants of learning, learning needs

Research the topic of determinants of learning, learning needs, readiness to learn, and learning styles. Select a
learner and identify the learner. For example, "Who is the audience?" (Protect the identify of the
learner/individual by not using their name or place of employment.) Is the audience one individual? Is there a
single need, or do many needs have to be fulfilled? If there is more than one learner or a group of individuals,
are their needs congruent or diverse? (Examples of learners might be a client and their families, nursing staff,
student nurses, or a single patient.)
Collect data from the learner. Identify what is important to them, what they perceive their needs to be, which
types of social support systems are available, and which types of assistance these supports will provide. If the
audience for teaching consists of staff members or students, solicit information from them as to those areas of
practice in which they feel they need new or additional information. Identify other health professionals that likely
have insight into patient or family needs, or the educational needs of the nursing staff or students resulting from
their frequent contacts with both consumers and caregivers. Prioritize learning needs (mandatory, desirable or
possible per Bastable, page 125). Determine readiness to learn. Discuss how you determined physical and
emotional readiness to learn. Describe experiential and knowledge readiness related to your selected
audience. Determine learning styles of the learner(s). Learning styles refers to the ways in which and
conditions under which learners most efficiently and effectively perceive, process, store, and recall what they
are attempting to learn and their preferred approaches to different learning tasks. Review information on FieldIndependent and Field-Dependent Learners, Dunn and Dunn Learning Styles, Jung and Myers-Briggs
Typology. You may ask the learner(s) if they prefer to attend lectures or group discussions? Which do you like
best, reading or viewing a film? Would you like me to demonstrate this skill first, or would you rather learn by
doing while I talk you through the procedure.