Barbara J. Daley

Novice to Expert: An Exploration of How Professionals Learn

Although researchers have recently focused on the nature of expertise, the link between learning and the development of expertise remains to be more fully explored. The purpose of this study was to analyze the different learning processes undertaken by novices and experts. Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with novice and expert nurses for the purpose of analyzing and comparing how their learning developed in clinical practice. Results indicated that novice learning is contingent on concept formation and assimilation. Novice learning is also framed by the feelings novices experience in the context of practice. Expert learning, on the other hand, was identified as a constructivist process using active concept integration and self-initiated strategies. Additionally, novices and experts identified different organizational factors that facilitated or hindered their learning. Experts were able to articulate systemic issues that affected their learning, whereas novices identified disparate individual issues. Implications for research and practice of continuing professional education are examined.

Learning and Professional Practice: A Study of Four Professions.

The purpose of this research was to investigate how knowledge becomes meaningful in professional practice across four different professions. Eighty semistructured interviews were conducted with social workers, lawyers, adult educators, and nurses who had attended continuing education programs 9 to 24 months previously. Findings indicate that professionals make meaning by moving back and forth between continuing professional education programs and their professional practice. In addition, each profession studied framed their meaning-making process through an understanding of the nature of their professional work. Implications for research and practice in continuing professional education are drawn.

Concept maps in medical education: an analytical literature review

Medical Education 2010: 44: 440–448

Family perspectives on dying in long-term care settings.

Dying is a central experience in the life of a family. Yet there are few studies of dying in long-term care and the role of a family. The dynamic relationships among families, staff, and residents in long-term care facilities related to the process of dying is an area where research is needed. As part of a larger study of death and dying in long-term care settings, 11 family members who recently had experienced the loss of a relative in the long-term care setting were interviewed. The purpose of this study was to describe family perspectives on death and dying in long-term care facilities and to discuss ways staff may be helpful to families in coping with the loss of a family member. Analyzing death and dying from the family perspective offers health care providers an opportunity to expand the understanding of the phenomenon of death in long-term care facilities and to incorporate care activities that families view as helpful. Major themes emerged from this study, including the caring behaviors of staff, participating in the dying process, and providing spiritual support. The themes and practice implications are discussed in this article.

A qualitative evaluation of medical student learning with concept maps

Purpose and Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate the ways in which the use of concept maps influenced the learning processes of third year internal medicine students in the context of medical education. Reported here are the qualitative results of this study. Methods: One–hundred thirty four medical students were taught to use concept mapping as a learning strategy at the beginning of their internal medicine rotations. Upon completion of the internal medicine rotation students were asked to evaluate how concept maps fostered the process of linking theoretical information to clinical practice. Additionally, students described how concept maps impacted their learning. Results: In this study, concept maps fostered a positive connection between theory and practice. Additionally, students described three major themes impacting their learning: concept mapping as a facilitator of knowledge integration and critical thinking, as a teaching methodology and finally, as a learning method. Conclusions: This study suggests concept maps may be an instructional method to foster the learning and thinking process of medical students.

Twelve tips for teaching with concept maps in medical education

Background: Concept maps have been used as a learning tool in a variety of educational setting and provide an opportunity to explore learners’ knowledge structures and promote critical thinking and understanding. Concept mapping is an instructional strategy for individual and group learning that involves integration of knowledge and creation of meaning by relating concepts. Aims: The following tips outline an approach to foster meaningful learning using concept maps. Methods: A total of 12 tips on the use and applications of concept mapping based on the authors’ experiences and the available literature. Results: The 12 tips provide an overview of the theoretical framework and structure of concept maps, suggesting specific uses, and applications in medical education. Conclusions: We describe different types of concept maps based on learners’ task, and how they can be utilized in different educational settings. We provide ideas for educators to integrate this novel educational resource in their teaching and educational practices. Medical educators can utilize concept maps to detect students’ misunderstandings of concepts and to identify knowledge gaps that need to be corrected. Finally, we outline the potential role of concept maps as an assessment tool.

Integrative Literature Review: Concept Mapping: A Strategy to Support the Development of Practice, Research, and Theory Within Human Resource Development:

The purpose of this integrative literature review is to summarize research on concept mapping and to offer ideas on how concept mapping can facilitate practice, research, and theory development within human resource development. In this review, more than 300 articles, written in both English and Spanish, presented at two different concept mapping conferences were reviewed. Six researchers reviewed the articles and created a matrix outlining the research studies, the methods, the findings, and the implications. This matrix was then used to conduct an in-depth analysis and identify six overall themes of the research presented. These themes were identified as (a) teaching and learning, (b) assessment and scoring, (c) knowledge development, (d) software development, (e) professional development, and (f) research methods. Finally, the identified themes were used to advance implications for the use of concept mapping within human resource development.

Metaphors for Professional Learning

The problem and the solution. Learning in professional practice is inherently a complicated, multifaceted endeavor. It requires professionals to construct new knowledge within the context of their work environment. Can metaphors be used to understand professional learning processes and the differences that exist across professions? This chapter reports findings of such research and illustrates one approach to using metaphor in the analysis and reporting of HRD research.Education,research, and practice implications for HRD are drawn.

Concept Maps in Nursing Education: A Historical Literature Review and Research Directions

BACKGROUND Although concept mapping was created in the early 1980s, research in nursing education first appeared in 1992. This literature review analyzes the impact of concept mapping in nursing education. METHOD A total of 221 articles, books, and book chapters were reviewed on the topic of concept mapping in nursing education. RESULTS Results indicate that concept-mapping research progressed from the emergence state, to an expansion and adaptation stage, to an established stage. CONCLUSION Nursing education could benefit from further research on applying concept map scoring formulas, using concept maps with simulation, developing knowledge models, and creating concept map-centered learning environments. [J Nurs Educ. 2016;55(11):631-639.].

Orienteering for Boundary Spanning: Reflections on the Journey to Date and Suggestions for Moving Forward

The problem and the solution. As is evident from the following discussion, continuing professional education and human resource development tend to have boundaries that are held strongly in place by theoretical premises, philosophical foundations, language, the practice arena, and the codification of knowledge in graduate programs. In this article, a grounded-theory approach to boundary spanning is proposed using the Dirkx and Austin model as a compass to navigate between and among types of learning and development, focus of interest, and context.