Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions



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CURRENT ISSUE BACK ISSUES SUBSCRIBE ADVERTISE ABOUT JCEHP FOR AUTHORS JCEHP AWARD SEARCH (Members only) FULL-TEXT		Volume 23 (3) Volume 23, Issue 3, Summer 2003 J Contin Educ Health Prof 2003; 23(3):141-145 THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS Building on abilities Knox AB A b s t r a c t This article reviews generalizations about effective continuing education that pertain to cognitive aging and memory and to a broader range of influences related to adult learning and development and to the context of professional practice. Features of excellent continuing education include attention to diversity, objectives, motivation, active learning, feedback, and application. The learning abilities and capacities of most professionals are sufficient for them to continue to enhance their proficiencies throughout their careers. Cognitive aging is one influence among various psychological characteristics. Effective continuing professional education should address career span learning and performance, including emphasis on abilities and not just disabilities. Lessons for Practice Continuing education planning decisions should reflect generalizations and theories about both cognitive aging and other factors, such as situational influences, personal motivation, and desirable assistance. Address both adult learners' abilities and disabilities to enhance their educational mastery and professional performance. Indicators of adult life cycle cognition decline less for meaningful content in natural settings than for processing of abstract information sometimes used in research studies. Findings regarding age and cognition from longitudinal studies show less decline than from cross-sectional studies. Gradual age-related declines based on assessment of maximal ceiling capacity on many psychological characteristics may not impinge on typical satisfactory performance. There is increasing diversity with age in individual differences for many psychological characteristics. Learning capacity reflects many factors, such as learner proficiency, commitment to excellent practice, and situational influences, along with features of educational activities, such as clear objectives, responsiveness to diversity, active participation, group and organizational context, program support and challenge, pacing, illumination, amplification, materials, visuals, memory aids, and constructive feedback. Continuing education guidelines reflect interactions among generalizations regarding factors such as cognition, performance, motivation, and context. MeSH Terms: Aging; Aptitude; Cognition; Education, Continuing; Learning; Memory; Professional Competence
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