Patterns of knowing as a foundation for action-sensitive pedagogy.

Graduate students in the health sciences often juggle full-time careers, demanding programs of study, and family responsibilities. Frustration, a perception of limited caring on the part of role models, and a sense of disengagement, or even despair, are common features of postbaccalaureate study for many of them. Nursing has long recognized the value of multiple perspectives in knowledge development. Previous work involving patterns of knowing not only has advanced the disciplinary knowledge base but has also encouraged innovative applications of the patterns to philosophy, evidence-based practice, and research aimed at reducing health disparities. In an effort to both extend the dialogue about ways of knowing and humanize the experience of graduate education for nursing students, the authors propose six patterns of knowing as a foundation for effective, action-sensitive pedagogy.

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