Affective Domain Devaelopment in Virtual Education: Visual Thinking Strategies and Art Pedagogy

Development of the affective domain is linked to increasing self-awareness of internal dialogue, such as biases and assumptions, which can affect the ability of nurses to engage in person-centered care and meet the identified patient outcomes. Through visual thinking strategies (VTS) paired with art-based pedagogy to examine grief, loss, and bereavement concepts in a hospice and palliative care nursing virtual education course, affective domain development was advanced. Foundational to this virtual educational intervention was using the VTS framework of questions and pairing them with art-based pedagogy promoting open-ended interpretation and response to the art presented. This assisted the students in identifying relevant information, making judgments, and connecting them to previous knowledge. Using VTS with an art-based pedagogical framework enhanced person-centered competencies of empathy, understanding diverse perspectives, and advanced critical thinking and observational skills. Applying this teaching strategy to various healthcare disciplines, changing the concepts, and utilizing varying art-based pedagogical formats can easily be adapted into virtual courses, preparing healthcare practitioners to meet identified curricular needs and learning outcomes and advancing patient-centered competencies.