Dental nursing teaching/training 1

DENTAL NURSING TEACHING/TRAINING

by[Name]

Course

Professor’s Name

Institution

Location of Institution

Date
 Dental nursing teaching/training 2

TASK 1

a) Identify and analyse the pedagogical theories, including (but not restricted to) those

pertaining to behaviour management that you used to manage student behaviour and deliver

effective teaching and learning during your teaching practice (1.1, 3.1).

Pedagogy

According to Pautova and Zharinova (2021), pedagogy refers to an approach used to

teach in theory and in practice which further includes the aims of education and how such goals

may be achieved. A critically evaluated pedagogy is essential in enabling students to learn more

effectively as well as developing high-order thinking skills (Naveed et al., 2017). While there are

various pedagogical approaches, they can be broken into behaviourism, constructivism, social

constructivism and liberationist.

Analysis of pedagogical theories

Behaviourism (Platukus, 2020).

           The behavioural theory focuses on the concept that behaviours are learned via interaction

with the environment (Platukus, 2020). In addition, behaviourism states that behaviours are

learned from the environment and the inherited factors pose little influence on behaviour.

Reference to this study, behavioural patterns and mental health of students 1 and 2 were used to

provide the basis for discussing the behavioural learning theory. The significance of evaluating

student behavioural patterns was to establish a link between how students learn and their social

knowledge as well as behaviour – this helped in establishing positive relationships among the

learners, educators, and the curriculum (Aheisibwe, Kobusigye, and Tayebwa, 2021). On the

other hand, the students’ mental health played a factor in determining how the students think,
 Dental nursing teaching/training 3

feel and act such as how they handle stress, relate to others and make healthy choices. The

students’ behavioural patterns and mental health helped establish the most effective behavioural

objectives to the instructional process, create a conducive learning environment as well as

enhance behaviour modification approaches to the educational process. 

           From the study, it was noted that the students were suffering from anxiety and depression

and psychotic disorders. As such, the behavioural learning theory is best suited for this scenario

as it provides a platform for understanding the behavioural literacy trends of the first student and

the mechanism of helping him to improve their condition. Reference to the second student, this

theory played a critical role in monitoring his progress as well as helping him improve his

academic performance by implementing creative and alternative teaching methods such as

project-based and personalised education to improve his scope of understanding. Based on the

students’ mental health and behavioural patterns, I integrated the following teaching approaches

with the behaviourism theory to help them improve their academic excellence.

a) Student-centred learning: This approach was vitally crucial as it uniquely addressed the

needs of every student. It gave the learners an avenue to fail and learn from their missteps

by helping them to develop critical thinking and self-reflection skills. According to the

behaviourism theory, the student-learning approach allows learners to serve as advocates

in the learning process.  

b) In line with teaching approach (a) above, the use of hand on active learning activities

such as the provision of questions and actively engaging the learners in classwork

activities such as reading and group work.

c) Inquiry-based learning was used as a mechanism of minimising teacher-centred learning

and thus alleviate environment monotony which was further enhanced by rewarding
 Dental nursing teaching/training 4

progress made by learners. This approach guides learners to develop critical thinking and

problem-solving skills and on many occasions, learners fail as part of the learning process

and then gradually improve their performance.

The behavioural learning theory was important in this scenario as it helped in the monitoring of

the first student’s learning progress as well as tracking his progress in English. In addition, I

helped the learner to improve his performance in English by rewarding him for his positive

learning curve. In learning institutions, rewards drive learners into exerting more effort not only

to achieve high grades but also to claim the rewards. For the second student, his mental disorder

(psychoticism) and low performance were caused by poor understanding of the concepts taught

in class as well as poor time management. These challenges were addressed by intertwining

problem-solving teaching and learning through symposiums and group work as well as a student-

centred learning approach to break teacher monotony and help find an extra time of about an

hour upon which the students learned themselves. 

Taxonomy of learning 

           Taxonomies of learning are used differently to describe various types of learning

behaviours. A study by Bloom (1956) notes that instructional designers and educators use

learning taxonomies to define and distinguish various levels of human recognition such as

recognition, thinking, learning and understanding. For instance, Bloom’ Taxonomy of learning is

vitally important in helping teachers to set outcomes that are not limited to the topic study but the

quality and level of understanding they want their learners to achieve as well as develop an

assessment that reflects the student’s progress toward the realisation of these objectives

(Kebritchi, Lipschuetz, and Santiague, 2017). According to Blanchette et al. (2020), Bloom’s

Taxonomy constitutes three learning taxonomies which include affective, cognitive and
 Dental nursing teaching/training 5

psychomotor and assigns each of these domains a hierarchy that meet the requirements of

various learning levels (Arnold-Garza, 2014). It is imperative to note that the various levels of

thinking defined within each domain of the Taxonomy are hierarchical. During my teaching

practice, I implemented Bloom’s Taxonomy to create learning outcomes and assessments for this

study.

           The cognitive domain focuses on intellectual skills such as critical thinking, problem-

solving and creating a knowledge base (Gravell and Simpson, 2010). Under this domain, I

utilised the knowledge to plan and evaluate student 2 who was performing poorly in English.

Reference to the cognitive domain, students are required to make gradual and linear progress

across the process which starts with recalling and ends with creating. Since the second student

was underachieving and unable to effectively use the English language, he was required to

counter this challenge by reading books related to pain anxiety management in the dental clinic.

To achieve this goal, I motivated the student to associate himself with students who are good at

English. Under the cognitive domain, I administered assessment activities which involved

providing the students with self-evaluation questions at the end of the class which aimed to make

the students recall the concepts learned. Based on the understanding hierarchy, I provided the

students with home assignments that required them to write a one page summary of skills learned

by making practical applications of the theoretical concepts. In addition, I created a conducive

environment for anxious patients prior to any procedure through peer feedbacks and group

discussions – this helped the patients to express themselves without distractions.

Active engagement in the learning process 

           According to Laal (2011), active engagement of students in the learning process helps

increase their attention and focus, motivate them to exercise higher-level critical thinking skills
 Dental nursing teaching/training 6

and enhance resourceful learning experiences. Kasowitz-Scheer and Pasqualoni (2002) argue

that this process constitutes an instruction approach whereby educators actively engage their

learners throughout their academic cycle via role-plays, discussions, and problem-solving. This

theory is vitally important in my teaching practice as it effectively and efficiently allowed me to

implement in teaching practice 1.1 and 3.1; for instance, it was highly effective for students 1

and 2 who had difficulties with a language barrier and poor academic performance. The student’s

difficulties were attributed to lack of practice, low self-confidence and self-esteem.

           As an educator, I helped student 1 by actively engaging him in class to carry out

continuous reading, encouraging him to take English courses, providing him with more infection

control questions to help him enhance his English when working on English questions. On the

other hand, I helped the second student to carry out various classroom questions and weekly

interviews to evaluate his progress. This exercise was further reinforced by group discussions

which aimed to improve his knowledge and understanding of various concepts.

b) Evaluate the effectiveness of the different pedagogical principles and creative approaches

that you used in the delivery of your specialist subject

Student 1

Active engagement in the learning process 

Student 1 had difficulties using the English language and therefore actively engaging him in the

learning process helped provide the basis for identifying and understanding his weaknesses and

the most appropriate method of helping him overcome them. Some of the identified approaches

included:

 Allowing the student to read more in class.

 Dental nursing teaching/training 7

 Encouraging him to engage himself with students who are proficient in English especially

during group discussions.

 Providing him with infection control questions to help him enhance his English

proficiency when answering questions.

In line with the aforementioned approaches, enrolling in English classes and engaging in group

work is key to highlighting the student’s literacy skills. For instance, I was able to identify the

student’s weaknesses and solved them with the help of post-class activities. Additionally, I

utilised innovative approaches (as highlighted below) to evaluate and enhance the student’s

challenges,

 Implementation of curriculum sight word list to help the learner comprehend infection

control medical terminology in English.

 Developed interviews on weekly basis with the student between February and April to

determine the student’s reading patterns.

By encouraging the student to read more in class and completing his homework are examples of

formative tools which enabled me to monitor his reading development in terms of understanding

his level of proficiency in English usage.

Student 2

Taxonomy of learning 

           Student 2 had challenges in achieving his full academic potential and thus constantly

failed to do well as expected. Reference to this challenge taxonomy of learning helped provide

approaches of enhancing his knowledge on understanding patient safety initiatives, utilising

conventional safeguards to patients regardless of a patient’s condition. With the help of the

cognitive domain, the following activities were found to be useful to his challenge.
 Dental nursing teaching/training 8

 Provision of classroom questions and home assignments at the end of each lesson.

 Provision of an exit ticket to evaluate the student’s understanding of the skills and

knowledge gained.

 Administering interviews on weekly basis to assess the learner’s progress in

comprehending the topic.

 Group discussions

In order to ensure that the student took part in group discussion and classroom quizzes, exit

tickets which are an ideal example of a formative assessment tool were utilised in tracking and

monitoring of the student’s progress. On the other hand, homework and classroom quizzes are

diagnostic assessment tools that aided me assessing the learner’s understanding of the concepts

learned. While interviews helped in the tracking of the student’s progress, post-classwork helped

improve his performance. This was further achieved via:

 Extension activities such as weekly symposiums to examine his practical knowledge.

 Provision of immediate feedback during homework assignments and class quizzes 

 Introduction of peer teaching by requesting a student who performs highly in a given

topic to tutor the student for 30 minutes after lessons.

 Dental nursing teaching/training 9

References

Aheisibwe, I., Kobusigye, L. and Tayebwa, J., 2021. Bridging Education Gap in Higher

Institutions of Learning Using Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. African

Educational Research Journal, 9(1), pp.69-74.

Arnold-Garza, S., 2014. The flipped classroom teaching model and its use for information

literacy instruction. Communications in information literacy, 8(1), p.9.

Blanchette, C.A., Kurdi, V., Fouquet, C., Schachar, R., Boivin, M., Hastings, P., Robaey, P.,

West, G.L. and Bohbot, V.D., 2020. Opposing effects of cortisol on learning and memory

in children using spatial versus response-dependent navigation strategies. Neurobiology

of learning and memory, 169, p.107172.

Bloom, B.S., 1956. Taxonomy of educational objectives. Vol. 1: Cognitive domain. New York:

McKay, 20(24), p.1.

Gravell and Simpson 2010 plannning and enabling in the lifelong learning sector

Kasowitz-Scheer, A. and Pasqualoni, M., 2002. Information literacy instruction in higher

education: Trends and issues.

Kebritchi, M., Lipschuetz, A. and Santiague, L., 2017. Issues and challenges for teaching

successful online courses in higher education: A literature review. Journal of

Educational Technology Systems, 46(1), pp.4-29.

Laal, M., 2011. Lifelong learning: What does it mean?. Procedia-Social and Behavioral

Sciences, 28, pp.470-474.

Naveed, Q.N., Muhammed, A., Sanober, S., Qureshi, M.R.N. and Shah, A., 2017. Barriers

Effecting Successful Implementation of E-Learning in Saudi Arabian Universities.

International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning, 12(6).

 Dental nursing teaching/training 10

Pautova, L.Y. and Zharinova, Y.N., 2021. The modern science of acmeology: integration of

psychology and pedagogy in education. In SHS Web of Conferences (Vol. 101, p. 03038).

EDP Sciences.

Platukus, G.L., 2020. The Relationship between Critical Thinking and Information Literacy in

Community College Students: A Mixed Methods Study. Drexel University.