A 32-year-old wife and mother of two children was a bank manager before entering the nursing program. She is finishing a baccalaureate nursing program in a few months. She learns best when she can plan and carry out her own learning activities, uses past experiences to help with current learning, and applies learning immediately. Which learning theory best fits this woman's learning style?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The woman's behaviors support the tenets of Knowles' adult learning theory. She is a self-directed learner, experienced, ready to learn, and is problem centered rather than theoretically oriented. Bandura's social learning theory attempts to explain behavior and facilitate learning. With social learning theory, learners are benefitted by role models, building self-confidence, persuasion, and personal mastery. The Gestalt-Field family of cognitive theories assumes that people are neither good nor bad; they simply interact with their environment, and their learning is related to perception. Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory requires lower level basic needs to be met before working toward self-actualization.

A 32-Year-Old Wife and Mother of Two Children Was a Bank