Bj. Stutsky et Hks. Laschinger, CHANGES IN STUDENT LEARNING STYLES AND ADAPTIVE LEARNING COMPETENCES FOLLOWING A SENIOR PRECEPTORSHIP EXPERIENCE, Journal of advanced nursing, 21(1), 1995, pp. 143-153
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.