Intended vs. actual outcomes: Puzzles of a teacher

In a previous post (13 March 2014), I mentioned that, to help my students become more observant of age-related issues, I ask them to write a journal. A natural follow-up question is, “So, how useful is that?” All I can say is, “I’m not sure.” Actual outcomes may be very different from intended outcomes.

When reading my students’ journals, I’m sure that some of them must have been written over a very short period of time, shortly before the due date for submitting them. I also read journals that are purely post-lecture reflections. That is, the entries are discussions of concepts I taught in class, which is not what I asked for. I wanted them to think about elder care outside of the classroom. Sometimes, I read journals that are superficial, mere recounting of what a student has read or heard in the news, but without personal reflection. Such entries are distant and somewhat “cold.”

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So, how to teach elder care? How to ensure that students have learned something? These are intriguing issues.

Through group seminars (oral presentations and discussions), written papers, and tests, I know how my students have performed academically and what knowledge they have mastered. But I can never be sure whether I have prepared them to be better nurses in caring for older people.

Have I helped them develop the right attitude for interacting with older people? In the relatively few clinical practice hours required by the Nursing Council (the regulatory body for registered nurses in Hong Kong), have my students been able to translate what they have learned in the class into actual practice? Have they developed a deeper understanding about older people as unique beings? Do they care about older people who come under their care?

I have no answers to these deeper questions. By interacting with my students, I know for sure that some of them have developed such understanding and care. But, as a teacher, my goal is not to teach just a few; I have been given a class.

My students may have performed satisfactorily in their course requirements. Knowledge can be acquired, but attitudes develop over time.

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International. Comments are moderated. Those that promote products or services will not be posted.