LEARNER

ASSESSMENT
Jezza Jonah C. Aclan, RN, MPH
Table of Contents

Introduction
Importance of learner
assessment
Determinants of Learning
Learner’s Characteristics
Factors that influence a
client’s ability, motivation and
desire to learn

Different methods in the

assessment of learner’s
needs, readiness and styles of
learning.
 ASSESSMENT OF
LEARNERS

● Involves assessment of learner’s needs, readiness and styles of

learning – most important step in instructional design.

● Evidence suggests that individualizing teaching based on prior

assessment improves patient outcomes.

● Often most neglected step due to lack of time

 ASSESSMENT OF
LEARNERS

● Assessment of the learners includes attending to the three

determinants of learning:
● Learning needs – what the learner needs and wants to learn
● Readiness to learn – when the learner is receptive to learning
● Learning style – how the learner best learns
 Learning Needs
Definition
Learning needs are gaps in knowledge
that exist between a desired level of
performance and actual level of
performance.
The gap between what someone
knows and what someone needs or
wants to know.
Note!
Of the three determinants of
learning, nurse educators must first
identify learning needs so that they
can design an instructional plan to
address any deficits in the cognitive,
affective or psychomotor.
 Learning Needs
Steps in Assessment of Learning Needs
1. Identify the learner.
● Who is the audience?
● If the audience is one individual, it there a
single need or do many needs have to be
fulfilled?
● Is there more than one learner? If so, are
their needs congruent or diverse?
2. Choose the right setting.
● Establishing a trusting environment
helps learners feel a sense of security in
confiding information, believe their
concerns are taken seriously and are
considered important.
 Learning Needs

Steps in Assessment of Learning Needs

3. Collect data about the learner.
● The health educator should get
background information about the client
from the person’s record and any agency
reports that include description of the
client’s population group (demographic
data ---who, what, where)
4. Collect data from the learner.
● Learners are usually the most important
source of needs assessment data about
themselves.
● Identify what is important to them,
what they perceive their needs to be,
etc.

Example: A group of 16-25-year-old lactating

mothers who are anemic and undernourished in
Barangay Lukban
 Learning Needs
Steps in Assessment of Learning Needs
5. Involve members of the healthcare team.
● Other health professionals likely have an
insight into patient or family needs based
in their encounters
6. Prioritize needs.
● Learner’s basic needs are attended to first
and foremost before higher needs are
addressed (Example: Use Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs to help prioritize needs)
7. Determine availability of educational
resources.
8. Assess the demands of the
organization.
● If for example, the organization is
focused on health promotion versus
trauma care.
8. Take time management issues into
account
 Learning Needs
Methods to Assess Learning Needs
● Informal conversations
● Structured interviews
● Focus groups
● Questionnaires
● Tests
● Observations
● Documentation
Assessing Learning Needs of
Nursing Staff
● Written job descriptions
● Formal or informal request
● Quality Assurance Reports
● Chart audits
● Rules and regulations
● Self-assessment
● Gap analysis
Readiness to Learn
Definition

Four Types of
Readiness to learn can be defined as Readiness to Learn
the time when the learner
(PEEK)
demonstrates an interest in learning
the information necessary to maintain Physical Readiness
optimal health or to become more
skillful in a job. Emotional Readiness

Readiness occurs when the learner is Experiential Readiness

receptive, willing and able to
participate in the learning process. Knowledge Readiness
 Learning Styles
Definition

Three mechanisms to
Learning style refer to the ways in determine learning
which and conditions under which
styles:
learners most efficiently and most
effectively perceive, process, store ● Observation
and recall what they are attempting to
learn. ● Interviews

● Administration of learning style

instruments
Dunn and Dunn’s
Learning Style
Options
A user-friendly model
that would assist
educators in identifying
characteristics that
allow individuals to
learn in different ways.
VARK Learning
Styles

The VARK Model

technically focuses on a
person’s preference for
taking in and putting
out information
Learner’s Factor
influen s that
ce a cli

Characteristics
ability, en
motiva t’s
and de ti
sire to on,
learn.
1. Culture

● All of the people function from a common set of acceptable

behaviors.

● Culture affects health behaviors and the teaching/ learning process

in many ways.

● Culture influences gender roles, sexual behaviors, diet, personal

hygiene, body image, drug use, exercise, and communication
among others.
2. Literacy
● The client's ability to read and understand what is being read is an
essential component of learning.

● Establishing the reading level and using materials that are

consistent with the client's ability is paramount.

● Materials at too high a level will be useless, as theywill not be

understood.

● Materials at too low a level, while of some value, may be too

simplistic and may even be seen as insulting.
3. Age
3. Age
3. Age
3. Age
4. Educational Level and Health Status
● A client's education level may have an impact on learning.

● It was once documented that education level is significantly

associated with health status (the more educated the healthier, but
this doesn't mean that only the less educated become ill.

● When teaching, it is important to establish the client's level of

knowledge or depth of understanding of his or her condition.

● This will help you provide information at an appropriate level: basic

or in great medical detail.
5. Socioeconomic

● The impact of socioeconomic level o n learning has more to do with

being able to use the information being taught rather than the
process of learning.

● Socioeconomic level may dictate where a client lives.

 THANK YOU!

REFERENCE: Bastable, S. (2019). Nurse as Educator. Principles of teaching and learning for nursing
practice (5th edition). Jones & Barlett Learning, LLC