CHANGES IN STUDENT LEARNING STYLES AND ADAPTIVE LEARNING COMPETENCES FOLLOWING A SENIOR PRECEPTORSHIP EXPERIENCE

The purpose of this pre-post comparison study was to examine the effec t of the preceptorship experience on the learning styles (the manner i n which individuals process information from the environment), adaptiv e competencies (the congruences between personal skills and task deman ds) and environmental press perceptions (the subjects' perceptions of the importance of each adaptive competency to effective functioning in a designated environment) of 37 fourth-year baccalaureate nursing stu dents. Using Kolb's theory of experiential learning as the theoretical framework for the study, it was found that the students' learning sty les were inconsistently categorized by two versions of Kolb's learning style inventory. The preceptorship experience was perceived by studen ts to have significantly (P < 0.05) improved the development of their adaptive learning competencies. Students perceived the importance of d ivergent, accommodative and convergent learning competencies to be low er after the preceptorship experience, with the only significant diffe rence (P < 0.05) being between pre- and post-convergent competencies. The preceptorship experience, however, was found to contribute signifi cantly more (P < 0.001) to the students' development of most adaptive competencies than their weekly clinical experiences. The findings supp ort the notion that a senior preceptorship programme is a valuable and worthwhile learning experience to include in baccalaureate nursing cu rricula.