From Ha-Ha to a-HA!: Using Humor to Transform Nursing Education by Shirley K Trout, PhD, MEd

The Twist Just Keeps Showing Up!

So you know how keen I am about the role of “The Twist” in creating a curriculum that sticks with your students. You know that it’s the Twist that shifts a classroom (or other learning environment) from “Yaaaawn,” to “pedENG!” (the exclamation one hears when a student is turned on to learning through a pedagogy of engagement).

This week, I’ve been engrossed in a lengthy book on CDs titled, Influencer, which looks at leading organizational change.

Different term, same concept!

And was I excited to hear the narrator discuss one of the key tools for leading organizational change – change that engages a person in doing, rather than just talking about change?

This book calls it, “vicarious experience.” And these authors argue that the way to get to vicarious experiences that lead to  doing things differently is through games and play.

Using a different term, they recommend The Twist!

The Twist creates vicarious experiences!

By integrating a Twist, an educator creates an opportunity for students to be engaged in something “else” while actually using their knowledge (new or existing) to construct the end product.

For example, let’s say it’s time for students to learn to insert a catheter, and your approach has been to integrate the importance of interpersonal communication into everything your students are asked to do. How might those two learning goals be integrated through a Twist?

How about starting with opposites? You might give one half of the class (in small groups of 3 to 5) the assignment of teaching the class how to insert a catheter correctly, while the other half gets to teach everything NOT to do. Naturally, they are expected to narrate clearly as they present their demonstration. You’ll be amazed at what a person learns about the correct procedures by having to teach it completely wrong.

Wait until what you hear they learn in the process, as they recap their experiences during this assignment!

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BE THE CHANGE
Title: Build Your Arsenal of Twists

Target Audience: Those who need to learn an applied skill, concept or way of being

Purpose: To build an arsenal of Twists to use for engaging learners

Supplies: Any needed as ideas come to you.

Time Required: As little or as much as you have to give it.

Procedure:

• Study the table, below.*

• As you consider curriculum content, choose one or two starting points for Twists and play with ways in which you can engage your learners in the curriculum within the guidelines of that Twist. Use that starting point to create a game or unusual activity to engage individuals or groups in some way connected to the content being explored.

• Be sure to include time after group or individual presentations to discuss what learners have discovered.

• As learners reflect on their experiences within that Twist, be listening for clarity and accuracy of learning.

• Use this table to help keep future Twists inventive and relevant, while preventing stagnation and predictability.

Rationale:

• It is important to keep one’s learning environment lively and filled with enough unpredictability that student nurses become accustomed to an unpredictable environment.

• Finding Twists to create vicarious experiences will become second nature once an educator makes the shift to engaged learning.

• This table provides starting points until educators make that shift.

*Presented at the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor International Conference, April 3, 2009, Las Vegas, NV.

References:
Patterson, K., Grenny, J., Maxfield, D., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2008) Influencer. Book on CD. Vital Smarts, LLC. High Bridge Audio

Trout, S.K., & Boller, J. (2009). EVATEC®: A model for transforming teaching to a learning paradigm via a pedagogy of engagement. A white paper for nursing education.

About the columnist: Shirley Trout, PhD, MEd, is a writer, speaker, curriculum designer and all-around fun person who owes her understanding of humor to her large, fun-loving extended family. Her journey into nursing education transformation has been an interesting one, which started in Kindergarten via a series of very bad teachers. Thankfully, she discovered the joy of learning – and has been designing learner-engaged, learning-centered curricula for the past quarter century. Shirley owns Teachable Moments, a company committed to developing practical, evidence-based tools educators can use to create teachable moments for the learners they serve. Contact Shirley at strout@teachablemoments.com