UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERAS

College of Nursing

NCM 102: HEALTH EDUCATION

MODULES 5&6: CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LEARNER

Learning Objectives: 1. Appraise and discuss the characteristics, motivation, behavior

and literacy of the learner.
2. Assess the learning needs of clients in actual situation
3. Customize health education depending on the culture, practices,
and values of the learner.
4. Communicate with the learner based on their cognitive level.

Pre-Activity:

TikTok Time:

Create a tiktok / portrayal depicting what kind of a learner are you. Limit your tiktok video to
1.5 minutes only. Be creative.

Module Content:
 THE DETERMINANTS OF LEARNING
Haggard (1989) states that the educator’s role in the learning process is primarily to
assess the learner in relation to the three factors that affect learning (DETERMINANTS OF
LEARNING):
1. Learning Needs
2. Readiness
3. Learning Style

A. Learner’s Characteristics that will influence learning which an educator must be aware of
are:
1. learning needs the learners perceptual abilities
2. motivational abilities or readiness
3. reading abilities
4. developmental stage
a. learning styles(s)
b. physical abilities

o Assessing Learning Needs (Bastable, 2003)

 Identify the learner
 Choose the right setting
 Collect data on the learner
 Include the learner as a source of information
 Include members of the health care team
 Determine availability of educational resources
 Assess demands of the
 Consider time-management issues
 Prioritize needs

o The Criteria for Prioritizing Learning Needs:

 Mandatory
 Desirable
 Possible

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 o Methods in Assessing Learning Needs:
 Informal conversation or interviews
 Structured interviews
 Written pretests
 Observation of health behaviors over a period of different times

o Readiness to learn – is the time when the patient is “willing to learn” or is

receptive to information.
1. Determine what needs to be taught
2. Find out exactly when the learner is ready to learn
3. Discover what the patient wants to learn
4. Identify what is required of the learner:
- What needs to be learned
- What the learning objectives should be
- Which domain of learning and at what level the lesson will be taught.

 Example: A procedure to be taught involves the psychomotor

domain and will use strategies that will require the learner to make
a return demonstration to show acquisition skills.
- Determine if the timing is right or proper
- Find out if rapport or interpersonal relationship is established
- If the learner is showing signs of motivation
- If the teaching plan matches the developmental level of
the learner

o 4 TYPES OF READINESS TO LEARN (P E E K )

1. Physical readiness
 strength, flexibility, endurance
 complexity of task
 environmental effect
 health status
 gender
2. Emotional readiness
 anxiety level (vs. fear)
 support system
 emotional support of nurse to the patient – “reachable moments”
 motivation
 frame of mind
 developmental stage – “teachable moments”
3. Experiential readiness – previous learning experiences which may
positively (if the experience is pleasant and appropriately reinforced) or
negatively (if the learning experience has been unsatisfying, humiliating,
or frustrating), affect willingness to learn.
 level of aspiration
 cultural background
 locus of control – motivation to learn (INTRINSIC LOCUS OF
CONTROL – within the individual; EXTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL –
motivation to learn)
 orientation – person’s point of view (PAROCHIAL – close minded
thinking, conservative; COSMOPOLITAN – worldly perspective and
receptive to new or innovative ideas).
4. Knowledge readiness
 present knowledge base
 cognitive ability

 Learning Styles – characteristic of the cognitive, affective, and physiological behaviors that
serve as relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with, and respond to the
learning environment.

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 o Motivation of the Learner (Bastable, 2003)
- Came from the Latin word “movere” (to move or set into motion)
- Moving forward to reach goals or needs.

o Behavior Change Theories

 Health Belief Model
 Health Promotion Model
 Self-efficacy Theory
 Precede-Proceed Model

o Learning Assessment of Clients

1. Literacy and readability
 Literacy
 Health literacy
2. Three factors in assessing levels of literacy (Bastable, 2003)
a. Reading or word recognition
b. Readability
c. Comprehension
3. Clues manifested by patients with low literacy (De Young, 2003)
a. Not even attempting to read printed material
b. Asking to take PEMs (printed educational materials) to discuss with
significant others
c. Stating that they can’t read something because they are too tired or
don’t feel well
d. Avoiding discussion of written material or not asking any question
about it
4. Two test to measure patient literacy:
a. REALM (Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine)
b. WRAT (Wide Range Achievement Test)

o Teaching Strategies for Low Literate Patients (Bastable, 2003)

1. Establish a trusting relationship before beginning the teaching-learning
process.
 Focus on the strengths
 Specifying what needs to be learned
2. Use the smallest amount of information possible by teaching only what the
patient needs to learn
 Prioritize behavioral objectives; limit presentation and discussion to
one or two concepts per session
 Present the context of the message first before giving any new
information
 Limit the teaching session to no more than 20-30 minutes
3. Make points of information as vivid and as explicit as possible
 Explain the information in simple terms
 Use visual aids
 Use underlining, highlighting, color coding, arrows and symbols to
emphasize important information
4. Teach one step at a time
 Increments (starting from the simplest and gradually increasing in
the level of difficulty)
 Organizze information into chunks
 Allow nurse to evaluate progress and give positive reinforcements
5. Use multiple teaching methods and tools requiring fewer literacy skills
6. Allow patients to restate information in their own words and to
demonstrate any procedure that is being taught
 Story-typing
7. Keep motivation high
8. Build in coordination with procedures by using the principles of:
a. Tailoring

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 b. Cuing
9. Use repetition to reinforce information

 Developing printed Educational Materials (DeYoung, 2003):

A. Organizational factors:
1. Include a short but descriptive title
2. Use brief headings and subheadings
3. Incorporate only one idea per paragraph and be sure that the first sentence is the
topic sentence
4. Divide complex instructions into small steps
5. Consider using a question/answer format
6. Address no more than three or four main points.
7. Reinforce main points with a summary at the end

B. Linguistic factors:
1. Keep the reading level at grade 5 or 6 to make the material understandable to most
low literate patients
2. Use mostly one or two syllable words and short sentences
3. Use a personal and conversational style
4. Define technical terms if they must be used
5. Use words consistently throughout the text
6. Avoid the use of idioms which may mean different things to different people
7. Use graphics and language that are culturally acceptable and age relevant for the
intended audience.
8. Use active rather than passive voice
9. Incorporate examples and simple analogies to illustrate concepts.

C. Appearance factors:
1. Include simple diagrams or graphics that are well-labeled
2. Use upper and lower-case letters
3. Use 10 to 14 point type in a plain font (serif is preferred)
4. Place emphasized words in bold or underline them
5. Try to limit line length to not more than 50 to 60 characters

Application and Analysis:

 Manong Luis, is a 62 year-old farmer form Caba, La Union who was diagnosed
with hypertension and pulmonary tuberculosis. Depict this scenario through a
sociodrama or role-playing covering the following points:

1. Present at least 3 teaching strategies for low literate patients that you will
apply to give health teachings to Manong Luis.
2. Identify 3 goals of care that you will mutually set with Manong Luis.

References:
Books:
Health Education for Nursing and other Allied Professions, 1 st edition, 2011; C. Castro
Teaching Strategies in Health Education; L. Ramos, et.al
Nurse as Educator, 5th edition; S. Bastable

Prepared by:

Owen Mari L. Domondon, BSPsych, RN

Professor

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