ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses literature pertaining to student-centred learning, its philosophies and methodologies. It explores how student-centred learning can be seen to improve the quality of professional nursing care in the context of patient-centred care. The chapter examines definitions of andragogy and how these have been interpreted in the arena of nursing education. It explains the final dimension of andragogy, namely that of an orientation to learning utilising a problem-solving approach. The climate of learning was moderately learner-centred, though teacher-student relationships were perceived as formal. Interest has also been focused on ‘learning how to learn’ study programmes as a teaching method to develop skills required to be self-directed when undertaking learning activities. The teaching of adults, it is argued, needs to be based on differing principles because of these diversities. The effectiveness of teaching methods also is an important dimension, especially in relation to bridging the so called theory: practice gap in nursing education.
