Abstract:

The assessment of the needs of adult learners is an essential component of any nursing education program. The diverse characteristics of adult nursing students will always present a challenge to many nurse educators as they attempt to tailor their courses and content to meet these challenges. Many colleges and universities are trying to meet the demands of how nursing education is delivered today by using non-traditional learning environments that many adult nursing students are not familiar with, nor do they know how they will respond academically to these new environments.
This paper will help nurse educators identify how adult, non-traditional learners can be successful academically by using the Dunn and Dunn Learning Styles Model to assist adult nursing students to adapt to online pedagogical methodologies. Multiple strategies for academic success will be discussed with implications for use in clinical areas. Nursing faculty and students can benefit from the many strategies that can be employed to assist the adult nursing student in undergraduate or graduate education programs. Learning new information is always a challenge, but pairing new course information with learning how to manipulate online pedagogical methodologies will not always yield the best results without using learning strategies that are best-suited to the adult learner.
Optimal student success is the overall goal of nursing education programs. By utilizing adult-specific teaching and learning strategies, nursing students have a greater chance of becoming academically successful by learning how to best adapt to the many pedagogical methodologies used in higher education today.

Keywords:

Nursing education, learning styles, adult nursing education.