Chapter 3 Worksheet for: Alfaro-LeFevre, R. (2020) Critical Thinking, Clinical Reasoning, and Clinical Judgment: A Practical Approach, 7th Ed. (http://www.alfaroteachsmart.com/books.html) 

Critical Thinking and Learning Cultures: Teaching, Learning, and Taking Tests

This chapter at a glance….

Learning cultures: everyone teaches, everyone learns
Building learning cultures
Teaching yourself: grab the spoon
Accessing, analyzing, and applying information
Conceptual learning: Focusing on big ideas
Conceptual learning strategies
Competency-based learning
Learning, unlearning, and relearning
What I learned from Candy Crush™
Simulation and debriefing
Strategies to make the most of simulation
Preceptors and nurse residencies
Clinical learning strategies
Helping others learn: Promoting independence
Educating patients and healthcare consumers
Assessing and evaluating thinking: Best practices
Evaluating thinking: Principles and strategies
	Self-assessment, reflecting on progress, initiating feedback 
Critical thinking and performance evaluation
High stakes testing
Improving grades and passing tests the first time
Studying Efficiently 
Physiological basis of test anxiety
Test-taking strategies
	Preparing for tests
	Taking tests
	After taking tests
		NCLEX® facts and strategies
	Fast facts on NCLEX® test plan
Next Generation NCLEX® (NGN)

Learning outcomes

After completing this chapter, you should be able to:

1.	Summarize key strategies for developing and sustaining learning cultures.
2.	Describe or map the relationships among learning cultures, critical thinking, and safety.
3.	Explain how concept-based and competency-base learning promotes efficient learning. 
4.	Detail your responsibilities related to educating patients and caregivers you supervise. 
5.	Identify three strategies you’ll use to make the most of simulation and debriefing. 
6.	Explain why practicing what to do when things go wrong promotes critical thinking.
7.	Explain the relationships among clinical learning, preceptors, nurse residencies, safety, and nurse retention. 
8.	Explain the relationships among clinical learning, preceptors, nurse residencies, safety, and nurse retention. 
9.	Reflect on your clinical learning progress and ask for feedback appropriately.
10.	Describe three best practices for assessing and evaluating nurses’ critical thinking skills.
11.	Identify strategies to help you study efficiently. 
12.	Explain why you need test-taking skills, as well as knowledge, to succeed in school and at work.
13.	Use strategies that help you improve your test scores and pass the NCLEX® on the first try.

Key concepts
debriefing; competency-based education; conceptual learning; formative and summative  evaluation; health literacy; mentor; preceptor; remediation; simulation; high stakes testing; educated guess. See also previous chapters.