Accelerated Learning - Research Paper Example

It can also be considered an offshoot of the numerous commitments of adult learners who are on traditional learning programs. These adults usually have limited time to spend on education; thus, a need for a program which offers creative learning formats which will speed up the process of acquiring quality education (Lewis, 2010). Accelerated learning is “an approach to learning that uses learner-centered teaching principles and practices to creatively engage students' multiple learning systems, resulting in faster, deeper, and more proficient learning (Basic Education and Policy Support (BEPS) Activity, 2005).

Accelerated learning has been proven to have several benefits. Foremost among these is that with accelerated learning a shorter time is required to learn something new and then apply it successfully. “The emphasis is on accelerating and deepening the learning, not speeding up the amount of “teaching” or material “covered”” (Acceleratedlearning.info, 2009, p. 1). Second, with accelerated learning the students become critical thinkers making them innovative and flexible because it is learner-centered and not teacher-centered (Acceleratedlearning.

info, 2009).. Another advantage of the accelerated learning model is that it supports not only knowledge but emotions as well, which consequently increases the learning rates and reduces the rate of failures (Boyd, 2004). Accelerated learning is not without its limitations. One limitation of accelerated learning is that not all individuals can adapt to the pace or approach of the program. Based on the theory of multiple intelligences and learning styles, it is impossible to develop a generic way of teaching individuals.

It is therefore necessary that educators should first familiarize themselves with the preferred learning modes of the students and the levels of their multiple intelligences in order to maximize learner strength (Boyd, 2004). Another limitation posed by accelerated learning is that it is essential that the classroom environment supports the adult learners’ actual world. This means that the method of instruction should consider the personal, social and cultural facets of the adult learner (Boyd, 2004).

What the students learn should be relevant to their daily lives. This finding is validated by the cognitive theory which states that “one cannot separate the learning process from the situation in which the learning is presented” (Boyd, 2004, p. 41) In the pursuit of a nursing education, one believes that accelerated learning is appropriate and beneficial to a nursing student. Through the formative skills that are taught through actual patient care, nursing students become properly oriented of the situations that they may face.

Accelerated learning offers more than theories of how to care for a patient, but rather, it teaches how to use the formative skills learned through concrete experiences (McNiesh, Benner, &