Facilitating Learning

Lesson 12

Problem

Literature (Lu & Jeng 2006; Moore & Marra 2005; Schellens & Valcke 2006) reveals concerns regarding
the process of knowledge construction. Educational programmes tend to favour knowledge
conformation rather than knowledge construction (Lu & Jeng 2006). Higher-education settings offer
unique opportunities and challenges to create a model of teaching and learning that is congruent with
espoused beliefs about knowledge and the way it is constructed. However, according to Mandl, Gruber
and Renkl (1996), practices in higher education have been criticised for not developing and preparing
students for the expertise required in real environments. In this article, the author therefore explores
the facilitators' perspective of the process of knowledge construction in CSL programmes in basic
nursing education.

Research methodology

Design

A qualitative approach based on a grounded theory research design was adopted for the research on
which this article is based. This research study entered the traditions of grounded theory, both in the
research process and the analysis of data. Grounded theory, sometimes referred to as the constant
comparative method, is a qualitative method attributed to Glaser and Strauss (1967). The multi-layered
process of abstraction of data in grounded theory explores previously identified concepts whilst
generating new ones.

The analysis proceeds from low-level descriptions to in-depth explorations, which are referenced at
every level by other categories from the analysis. This allows for a continual comparative analysis, which
ensures a conceptually rich theoretical account of the data (Strauss & Corbin 1990).

Grounded theory makes its greatest contribution in areas where little research has been done and when
new viewpoints or gestalts are needed to describe a familiar phenomenon that is not clearly understood
(Chenitz & Swanson 1986). Grounded theory was appropriate in this study because very little has been
done in terms of research aimed at understanding how knowledge is constructed and conceptualised in
CSL nursing programmes, in South Africa and globally.

Materials

Two nursing education institutions (NEIs) that are well established and are recognised countrywide for
their CSL in basic nursing education programmes were purposively selected to participate. The selection
of participants from the NEIs was dependent on the role they play in the CSL programmes. In the South
African context, all pre-registration nursing programmes run for a period of four years. At each year
level there is usually an academic level coordinator who is responsible for the administrative work at
that particular level. There is also a programme director who is responsible for overseeing the entire
undergraduate nursing programme. The heads of department and deputy heads of the NEIs were
interviewed, as well as the programme directors and coordinators at the level where the CSL component
was offered, and the facilitators (or lecturers), including clinical facilitators, where applicable, who were
involved in the CSL programmes. The interview sample comprised 16 participants. In NEI-A, the sample
comprised the deputy head of the school, the basic nursing programme academic coordinator, the
second-year level coordinator (the level offering CSL) as well as four facilitators for this level, bringing
the total of participants at this NEI to seven. In NEI-B, a total number of nine participants were
interviewed. These were the head of the school, the undergraduate programme director, four level
coordinators (one for each level of the basic nursing programme) who also acted as facilitators, two
additional facilitators and one clinical facilitator.

The experience of the participants in CSL was not taken into consideration - the researcher wanted to
accommodate as much numbers of participants as possible to allow for deeper and broader scope of
data collected. The students involved in the CSL programme were not interviewed, but observations of
their classroom sessions and community engagement activities interaction were carried out and the
process of learning noted thus.

Data collection methods

The process of knowledge construction in CSL was observed as it occurred at community learning sites
and also in the classroom setting. The collection of observations made translated how students learnt
from the communities and how the authentic learning was transferred to the classrooms and then back
to the communities. During each classroom session observed, events were documented by the
researcher as they occurred in the form of field notes. Observation of students in community learning
sites and also in the classroom assisted the researcher in gaining insight into the practice of CSL. The
focus was on how students gained knowledge and experience by their interactions with the
communities in need of health interventions and on how this knowledge and experience, once gained,
was taken back to the classroom for further reflection, application and evaluation. The lecturers shared
with the researcher their understanding of the meaning behind the practice of CSL and the process of
knowledge construction in both the community and the classroom. Questions that served as outlines for
the interviews were prepared. The following questions were asked:

What is your understanding of the concept knowledge construction within the context of CSL in your
institution?

What are the core characteristics of the knowledge construction process in CSL in your institution?

Please briefly describe your school's service-learning and/or community-based basic nursing education
programme.

How does learning from the community settings inform classroom teaching/learning?
Please explain the process that you follow when conducting classroom sessions?

What is your role during classroom interaction?

What role is played by the students during the classroom sessions?

Does your group ever engage in a dialogue to such an extent that new information emerges from that
process? Can you explain this process?

At what stage do you say that learning has taken place?

What facilitates or hinders the process of knowledge construction?

Structured interviews that were conducted were mainly based on data that had emerged during
observation at each site so as to cross-check, fill gaps and verify categories and concepts that had
emerged from the data of each site. The interviews addressed questions related to the nature of
learning experiences used, community-based student learning experiences or activities, teaching and
learning processes, and the roles of those involved in the programme and their community involvement.
Interviews were then transcribed and coded using thematic analysis.

The copies of documents pertaining to the CSL programme were requested for analysis. These included
documents regarding the philosophy, vision and mission statements of the NEIs, conceptual
frameworks, programme and level or course outcomes and its assessment criteria as well as the
evaluation instruments of the programme. According to Wilson (1997), the agency's perspective and
interpretation of the phenomena often emerges from the analysis of the documents. These documents
were analysed in relation to the data that was emerging during observations and interviews. On-going
and concurrent analysis of data, at this stage, yielded preliminary concepts and constructs describing
CSL processes and practices as understood and practised by the selected NEIs. It also gave insight in how
students applied the knowledge they had learnt in community settings when back in the classroom.

Title : Conceptualisation of knowledge

Sindi Z. Mthembu; Fikile G. Mtshali

University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

RESULTS: The results revealed that the knowledge construction in community service-learning
programmes is conceptualised as having specific determinants, including the use of authentic health-
related problems, academic coaching through scaffolding, academic discourse-dialogue, interactive
learning in communities of learners, active learning, continuous reflection as well as collaborative and
inquiry-based learning. Upon completion of an experience, students create and test generated
knowledge in different contextual health settings.
Recommendations

To facilitate knowledge construction, it is recommended that CSL programmes be used to provide a

Conclusion

As much as it is known that knowledge is constructed within the cognitive structure of every individual
so that it is fundamentally personal, facilitators revealed in this article that it is dependent on learning
experiences gained by social interactions. Lecturers participating in this study indicated that meeting
communities and working with community needs enlighten students regarding different cultural,
religious and traditional beliefs present in the types of communities where they will be working in
future. The locus of the students' action must be where people live, work and need to be cared for and
not only in the classroom.

The discussion of the research findings revealed that knowledge is generated in real-life experiences
that provide authentic, raw content for the students. Learning issues emerged from current realistic
community problems that serve as basis for authentic learning experiences. Students engage in
interactive learning discourse as communities of learners. Upon completion of a community service-
learning experience, students create and test generated knowledge in differing contextual health
settings.

It is concluded that knowledge is constructed by students as a result of their interaction with the
communities in their socio-cultural context and is also mediated by their prior concrete experiences.
Knowledge construction in CSL programmes therefore takes place in an environment characterised by
exposure to authentic health-related community problems.
ACTIVITIES

1. 5 characterictics of a constructivies teacher.

Engage

Students should be making connections between past and present learning and anticipating possible
future outcomes

Explore

Students explore their environment and actively manipulate the materials. Here is where they identify
the new processes concept and skills and verbalize those skills.

Explain

Students are verbalizing the new concepts that they’re forming and the teacher will introduce the
formal key terms and definitions.

Elaborate

Students will practice these new concepts and skills to gain mastery over them and dive deeper in the
subject to gain a broader understanding.

Evaluate

Both the teacher and students assess their new understandings here. A rubric could be presented to
evaluate based on predetermined criteria.

2. Explain the role of constructivism in facilitating learning

Constructivism is very special in knowledgeconstruction of the students like us because it develops our
higher order thinking skills by constructing new knowledge and understanding.

3 describe strategies to promote knowledge construction

Help students uncover knowledge.

Encourage collaboration.

Informally assess students.

Design lessons with flexible learning paths.

Provide students with built-in tech support.

4 describe strategies concept learning

Learning strategies are devices employed by learners to assist in the acquisition of knowledge and skills.
Instruction should guide the learner in the choice of appropriate learning strategies for particular
learning tasks. Facilitating the learning of declarative knowledge, concepts, procedures, principles,
problem solving, cognitive, attitudes, and psychomotor skills begins with decisions on what content
should be presented, how it should be presented, and in what sequence the instruction should follow
(Smith and Ragan, 2005). Ideally, an instructional strategy should be as generative as possible while still
offering motivational support for learners.

5 from the lesson on constructivism knowledge construction concept learning

I realized that Constructivism- is a basically a theory based on of observation and scientific study about
how people learn. It says that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world,
through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences.