Educating Teachers: An Experience Based on Constructivism

Abstract

Introduction: As an institution of higher education, the university needs extremely qualified teachers to educate independent and creative professionals who are committed to others. A university education in nursing dedicated to the service of others requires a teaching staff that is trained in a number of related theoretical concepts. With this in mind, a study was done to identify the results of Mayer’s constructivist learning model applied to a group of teachers.

Methodology: A descriptive intervention study was done, with a pre-test and a post-test. A class plan, a diagnostic examination, a retention test and a transfer test pursuant to the requirements for constructivist learning were designed for each session and for each of the following topics: andragogy, theoretical elements and the design of group learning strategies.

Results: The post-test reflected increased knowledge of the topics: Topic 1: from 50 to 90 - 91%; topic 2: from 33 to 77 - 95%; topic 3: from 28 to 71.6 - 90%.

Conclusions: Education based on Mayer’s constructivist learning model enabled the group of participating teachers to raise their improvement rates.