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Nursing student populations have become increasingly diverse in universities and community colleges, as they consist of various age ranges, backgrounds, and cultures. Nurse educators have the added challenge of tailoring their didactic sessions to meet the learning needs of a variety of students and outcomes, as well as fostering engagement and critical thinking. To achieve these didactic teaching goals, students must possess a strong foundational knowledge in human anatomy and physiology. However, Jordan, Davies, and Green (1999) identified human anatomy and physiology as the most difficult subject in the nursing curriculum and as a significant source of anxiety for first-year nursing students.
How do nurse educators meet the needs of student learning, bridge the classroom-clinical gap, increase engagement, and stimulate critical thinking? One possible solution may be to identify prominent learning styles and apply kinesthetic learning activities. Meehan-Andrews (2009) evaluated the preferred learning styles of first-year health science students in an Australian anatomy and physiology course. Using practical sessions, (i.e., laboratory-based learning), Meehan-Andrews found that "of the students that preferred a single mode of information presentation, more than two-thirds, 68%, preferred kinesthetic methodsâ[euro]* (p. 27). Students in that course also reported increased confidence in completing tasks, carrying out instructions, documenting information, and analyzing data. Kinesthetic learning strategies use the V isual, A ural/Auditory, R ead/Write, K inesthetic (VARK) theory, which are instructional preferences originally developed by Fleming in 1987 to identify learning styles that enhance education (French, Cosgriff, & Brown, 2007). Fleming (1995) defined kinesthetic style as learning through touch and experiences. Therefore, incorporating movement, touch, motion, or cooperative learning activities into the curriculum is the basis for kinesthetic learning strategies.
Many theories exist to understand the mechanisms by which learning takes place. Learning styles can be broadly based on a number or perspectives, including (a) personality traits (i.e., those characteristics within the individual that are relatively fixed); (b) information processing (i.e., Kolb's and Kolb's [2005] experiential learning cycle); (c) social learning, which examines how the learner interacts in the environment; and (d) instructional preferences, such as the VARK theory (French, Cosgriff, & Brown, 2007). Kinesthetic-based practical sessions allow students to use movement and demonstration during lecture to visualize difficult concepts relating to anatomy and physiology to enhance learning and retention.
Hoke and Robbins (2005)...