Aural learning style and a bad teacher

allnurses Guide · Sep 7, 2012

I wouldn't call her a bad teacher.

If you learn best from listening then record yourself reading your ppts and then listen to it while you review.

Before you label her a bad teacher, try to prepare yourself prior to class and then learn to apply the knowledge you know into practice via group activities and/or report of experience.

dayanara · Sep 7, 2012

You are right. I should have said she is not the "right" teacher for someone who is auditory. The problem is that her power points just have tiny pieces of info, and I was expecting for her to elaborate on the different topics mentioned on the power points.

gatoraims RN · Sep 7, 2012

You could also see if they have pod casts for your book, I know there was a free pod cast for one of the fundamental books. One other thing that worked is to look on youtube. I find many lectures on there and I review those if for some reason I just did not get what the instructor was lecturing about. What are you learning now? topics?

dayanara · Sep 7, 2012

That's a good idea. Thank you.

Well we have a test next week which includes several chapters including: the nursing process, healthcare delivery systems, continuity of care, legal implications, values and ethics, basic assessment, historical perspectives and theories, etc... A lot of information to learn by myself:-(

zoe92 · Sep 7, 2012

Maybe take those power points and supplement them with the book... and then create your own notes that combine the two (power point + explanation by book). then record yourself reading those notes. I'm sorry your teacher isn't as much help... I know how hard it can be. Good luck to you!

Music in My Heart · Sep 7, 2012

Nursing is a subject far too broad to expect a teacher to be able to cover all the details in lectures. They can cover the high points and then you need to learn to learn by reading out of a text book.

Of assistance might be to create your own audio files utilizing the text as your information source. I did this as one means of studying and found it helpful - though too time-consuming to continue.

metal_m0nk, BSN, RN · Sep 8, 2012

Aural learning style, eh?

That's a new one...

Stephalump · Sep 8, 2012

I'm of the aural (auditory...I have no idea why "aural" is a thing) as well, but there's no way our professors could possibly talk about everything no matter how much they loved to lecture. You have to use the knowledge about yourself to help yourself. Study groups are great for me because I can explain things out loud and listen to other people explain things. When I study at home I talk out loud to myself. I lecture my husband and my kids. There's YouTube, various audio lectures, etc.

Even with the "perfect" teacher, you'd have to do for yourself, so start figuring out what works for you!

dayanara · Sep 8, 2012

I've been in college since I was 18. Taking classes, changing majors, all together I must have +100 credits, so I have had a lot of teachers in my school years. I think I know what a teacher is able/not able to cover during lectures, and after reading all the material I think she can do a better job lecturing and teaching us the material instead of putting us in groups for almost the entire class and "sharing" personal stories instead of giving us the facts.

I'm doing my share studying and I have done a good job in all the classes I have taken so far because I study hard AND because I have had excellent teachers. They get paid to teach, and we pay to get an education. I didn't just paid for the textbook, I paid for the course too, so I expect her to do her job as good as she can.

metal_m0nk, BSN, RN · Sep 8, 2012

Okay....so what's stopping you from talking to her about it?

llg, PhD, RN · Sep 8, 2012

I'm sorry that this particular teacher is not the best match for you. But if she were taking the time to explain everything, there would be other students complaining that they weren't getting the application examples and exercises that THEY need to learn. No teacher can be the perfect match for everyone's individual learning style. And students should be prepared to work with (and learn from) teachers with a variety of different styles.

In the practice arena, people will not always stop to explain things to you. They'll say, "Look it up. Read the policy." etc. If you want to succeed as a nurse, you'll need to be able to learn quickly and efficiently under a variety of conditions. While this class may be especially challenging for you, it may be just what you need to prepare yourself for the real world of nursing practice.

Talk to the teacher and see if she can suggest some auditory resources for you to use. Or if you learning limitations are severe enough, talk with the learning disabilities center at your school to see what suggestions they may have for you.