Relationship between Gerontological Nursing Students' Self Directed Learning Readiness and Learning Styles, Teaching Modes, and Academic Performance

Abstract

Self directed learning is a process in which students take the scheme to prepare learning goals, discover their learning needs, recognize resources for learning, choose and fulfill learning strategies, and appraise learning outcomes.Objective: Determine the relationship between gerontological nursing students' self directed learning readiness and learning styles, teaching modes, and academic performance.Setting: This study was carried out in the gerontological Nursing Department, Faculty of Nursing, Mansoura University.Subjects: A total number of 272 fourth year nursing students were enclosed within the study.Tools: Four tools were used for data collection; Nursing students' demographic data and academic performance structured questionnaire, Self-directed learning readiness scale (SDLR), VARK questionnaire, and teaching modes efficiency questionnaire.Results: Total mean score of self directed learning readiness was high among gerontological nursing students and self-control subscale mean score was high compared to other SDLR subscales.Kinesthetic and read -write styles were the most reported learning style by students.There were significant relations between gender, teaching modes efficiency and SDLR.Conclusion: The majority of gerontological nursing students prefer to learn using unimodal of VARK modalities and the dominant learning style was kinesthetic and read -write modal.No significant association between the students' marital status, residence, academic performance, learning styles, modal of learning and level of SDLR.Recommendations: Nursing educators should provide assistance and outlets for critical thinking, Problem based learning, brainstorming, self-direction and various types of creative thinking and move the students from traditional educational approaches to more active and autonomous approaches.