Teaching Experience Paper. Health, Medicine, Nursing Term Paper

Teaching Experience Paper
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December 6, 2020
Understanding the importance of teaching plans in relation to the field of healthcare is essential for any practitioner or scholar. It allows him to have a better understanding of his experience as well as strategize a better way to reach the desired effects of the learning process. This is essential since reflection in the teaching process does not only benefit the educator but even the students and audience whom he is educating. In this article, the author would like to focus on a reflection of his teaching experience. This includes the topic that he focused on, the methodologies used, as well as the expected results of the said teaching strategy. All in all, the author believes that by looking into the experience, it is possible to develop a more cohesive and effective plan in the future that could be replicated and repeated elsewhere.
Summary of the Teaching Plan
The teaching plan for this study focused on educating high school students from grades 9-12 about the importance and methods of preventing diabetes. Notably, the whole curriculum lasted 2 hours long and utilized a more interactive approach where the students were able to freely ask and interact with one another through a concise activity once the lecture part is over.
The primary rationale for this teaching plan lies in the fact that the best way to prevent diabetes is by teaching the youth about prevention as early as possible in life. A previous literature review by the author has revealed that diabetes is more common among people "above the age of 30 than young adults below 20 years". Furthermore, it was also found out that "one in five adolescents and one in four young adults are living with pre-diabetes" (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). In other words, diabetes is a lifestyle problem that starts as early as the individual's adolescence. Thus, in order to mitigate the chances of developing into an irreversible problem, the youth must be taught as early as possible about the importance of diabetes prevention as well as the means and methods on how to prevent it.
Accordingly, the main lecture was modeled around Vygotsky's social constructivism theory, emphasizes the importance of cultural and social interactions in the learning process. This theory suggests that the lifestyle problems that causes diabetes is not merely isolated upon the individual's own choice, but also the social and cultural backgrounds influence young adults' food choices and lack of physical activity (Liu & Chen, 2010). Thus, the author utilized social constructivism theory to teach the youth about how to determine and choose healthy food as well as how to exercise more often. This was done in the hopes that with continuous interactions (where each one makes healthy choices), adolescents can learn from each other and their peers.
Epidemiological Rationale for the Topic
The epidemiological rationale for the topic lies in the fact that diabetes is one of the most common and fatal diseases in the world. What is frustrating, however, is that this is also a disease that is highly preventable just by making better choices. In the United States, for example, over 210,000 young adults have diabetes. Besides, a significant number of adolescents lose their lives to diabetes every year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). On the other hand, research shows that over 61% of students have access to junk food in school and 75% at home. Similarly, less than 24% of young adults aged between 6-20 years participate in physical activity (Reyes-Velázquez & Hoffman, 2011). This explains why the rates of diabetes have been declining in other age brackets except for adolescents and young people.
Additionally, although many treatments could mitigate their adverse effects, diabetes treatment also costs a lot for the individual, the State, and the healthcare providers. Thus, by preventing the onset of this disease, reducing the costs, resources, and fatality of this disease becomes easier.
Evaluation of teaching experience
The teaching experience shows a positive net impact on the students' perception and knowledge about the disease and its preventive methods.
Initially, the lecture that utilized appealing visual cues together with the interactive approach in learning seems to have piqued their interests when it comes to learning more about the topic. In some instances, the students were even surprised that what they thought were "healthy snacks" were included in the list of junk foods that could cause diabetes in the long run due to the presence of synthetic chemicals that are either used sweeteners or preservatives. Nonetheless, the initial activities (i.e., the listing of junk foods) also shows that the students already have the essential knowledge about delineating healthy foods from processed ones. The initial assessment also shows that some students exercise at least twice a week, excluding their Physical Education classes, which is relatively better compared to having no physical activities at all.