Constructivism in Cultural Competence Education

Abstract

A graduate course on cultural diversity, based in constructivist theory and structured on the Process of Cultural Competence in the Delivery of Healthcare Services model, was developed and taught through classroom and online methods. The following research questions were explored: 1) Can an educational experience, built on constructivist learning theory tenets, change students' perceptions, attitudes, knowledge, and skills in the area of cultural competence? 2) Does the delivery method, online or traditional classroom, influence the degree of change? The study used a quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest control group design using the Inventory for Assessing the Process of Cultural Competence Among healthcare Professionals Revised. Findings showed significant changes (p<0.001) in cultural competence scores and subscores for all learners with both teaching modalities based on interval scale and in categories of cultural knowledge, skills, desire, and overall competence based on a nominal scale. The untaught construct of cultural desire showed the most significant improvement.

Cultural Awareness in Nursing is a Progressive Growth

“…The integrated cultural curriculum gives learners an opportunity to incorporate new information by building upon what they already know [1]. One may think of this theory as a qualitative paradigm, but I was looking at how students construct or assimilate the knowledge from beginning to end.…”

“…The nursing school method used to measure the level of cultural awareness among nursing students is ineffective [1,2]. Nursing program administrators must determine the impact of curricula used to educate current and future nurses [3].…”

“…Cultural awareness is a progressive growth, built on the continuing increase in familiarity and skill development related to the attributes of cultural knowledge, cultural understanding [1][2][3][4][5], cultural sensitivity, cultural interaction and cultural skill [2,6]. A healthcare professional demonstrates cultural awareness by blending the previously mentioned attributes and their relevant dimensions in human interactions [2,7].…”

Multimethod teaching strategies to integrate selected QSEN competencies in a Doctor of Nursing Practice distance education program

“…11,[13][14][15][16][17] Collectively, the frameworks propose learner engagement through ownership, active participation, idea testing, peer-review, and reflection related to content and learning process.…”

Teaching Cultural Competency Through a Pharmacy Skills and Applications Course Series

“…The tool has been used to assess cultural competence in a variety of healthcare professionals and has been studied in the United States and internationally. [21][22][23][24][25] The IAPCC-R has been successfully used to evaluate pharmacy students in another college of pharmacy. 16 Although not specifically for pharmacy students, the IAPCC-R has shown good reliability and validity 20 and has also been used to test student nurses, nurses, medical students, and residents.…”