Active Learning In Nursing Education and Teaching Strategies to Promote Student Engagement
Strategies to Promote Student Engagement and Active Learning
Adopting teaching strategies to promote
student engagement and active learning is a vital component of the faculty
role. An abundant amount of research shows that students who are engaged in
active learning are more likely to meet learning outcomes (National Survey of
Student Engagement [NSSE], 2013) and apply the concepts in the practice setting
(Blau & Snell, 2013).
However, a study of a subset of nursing students who
participated in the NSSE study found that undergraduate nursing students do not
perceive themselves as being engaged in student-centered and interactive
pedagogies, compared with students in other academic disciplines (Popkess &
McDaniel, 2011).
This creates a challenge for nursing faculty in terms of
providing learning experiences that capture students’ interest and engage them
in active learning. This chapter provides evidence for the benefits of student
engagement and offers a description of specific teaching strategies to promote
active learning that can be used across all levels of nursing education and in
a number of learning environments.
Student Engagement for Active Learning In Nursing Education
The
theory of student engagement has its roots in Astin’s theory of student
involvement (1999). The words engagement and involvement have become synonymous
in the educational literature over time. The main premise is that highly
involved students are more likely to learn academically and develop personally.
There are five basic elements of the theory.
First, involvement and engagement
refer to the investment of physical and psychological energy in learning.
Second, involvement and engagement occur along a continuum with different
degrees of involvement at varying times.
Third, involvement and engagement have
both quantitative (i.e., hours studying) and qualitative (i.e., measurement of
comprehension) aspects.
Fourth, the amount of student learning is directly
influenced by the quality and quantity of student involvement and engagement.
Finally, the effectiveness of education is directly related to increasing
students’ involvement and engagement in the learning process. Student
engagement is based on Chickering and Gamson’s (1987) seven principles of good
practice in undergraduate education.
According to Chickering and Gamson, if
educators are able to facilitate student learning through these principles,
students are more likely to meet learning outcomes. These principles are:
(1)
encourage contact between students and faculty
(2) develop reciprocity and
cooperation among students
(3) encourage active learning
(4) give prompt
feedback
(5) emphasize time on task
(6) communicate high expectations
(7)
respect diverse talents and ways of learning
Different types of student
engagement activities produce a variety of learning outcomes, emphasizing
active participation in the learning process.
For example, students who have
frequent interaction with faculty are most satisfied with their learning
experience and show greater learning outcomes (Hill, 2014; Lundberg, 2014).
Students are more likely to be able to cope with the stresses of academic life
if they are engaged in academic support systems (Bruce, Omne-Ponten, &
Gustavsson, 2010).
Student engagement can easily be measured through direct
observation and measurement of a variety of academic engagement activities such
as the number of hours studying, meeting course competencies, and student
satisfaction surveys, among other factors (National Survey of Student
Engagement, 2013).
The student engagement theory is applicable to nursing
education because it directs attention away from the subject matter and
teaching technique and toward the motivation and behavior of the student,
taking into account its application to nursing practice.
This is in line with
transformational teaching, today’s view of the psychology of learning, wherein
it is the responsibility of the student to be active and engaged in the
learning process, and the nurse educator uses a variety of teaching and
learning experiences to become a facilitator or guide in the education process
(Benner, Stuphen, Leonard, & Day, 2010; Slavich & Zimbardo, 2012).
Active learning, a foundational component of Astin’s (1999) theory based on
Chickering and Gamson’s (1987) seven principles of good practice in
undergraduate education, is fundamental to student learning and requires
student engagement.
Evidence for Student Engagement In Nursing Education
Evidence for the effect of engagement in
higher education on student learning has been established through the NSSE
(2013). In 14 years, surveys to 1500 colleges and universities in the United
States and Canada have measured “student participation in programs and
activities, providing estimates of how students spend their time and what they
gain from attending college” (p. 6).
Student engagement behavior is associated
with desired outcomes of colleges. Results of the annual NSSE report (2013) of
335,000 students’ engagement were categorized into five quality indicators.
First, academic challenge illuminated the relationship between emphasizing
higher-order learning and courses that students perceive as focusing on more
complex topics, challenging their thinking skills.
Second, learning with peers,
or collaborative learning, enhanced student success by facilitating incentives
to learn, shared comprehension of material, and support from peers.
Third,
experiences with faculty affected students’ cognitive growth, development, and
retention. Effective teaching practices included courses taught with clarity
and organization and student feedback that is prompt and formative. Fourth, the
campus environment showed that student interaction with a variety of individuals
on campus, such as student services, academic advisors, and administrators,
have a positive influence on learning outcomes.
Fifth, high-impact practices
(learning community, service-learning, or research with a faculty member) were
found to increase knowledge, skills, and personal development, and students who
used these practices stated that they were more satisfied with their
educational experience.
Lastly, topical modules (additional questions on topics
of interest) showed that academic advising promoted student persistence and
success through guiding students to programs and events that promote
engagement. Learning with technology, the final module, showed that use of
technology was positively related to student engagement and higher-order
learning.
In a large-scale study of 438,756 community college student
engagement (Community College Survey of Student Engagement [CCSSE], 2014), a
number of benchmarks were established showing the relationship of engagement to
learning outcomes.
First, active and collaborative learning led to students
learning based on their participation in class, interacting with other
students, and learning outside of the classroom. In addition, learning was
correlated with the number of terms enrolled and credit hours completed.
The
second benchmark, student efort, showed that students who spent the time
necessary to learn content (time on task) were able to apply themselves to the
learning process.
The third benchmark, academic challenge, in which students
engaged in challenging intellectual and creative work such as evaluation and
synthesis, were most consistently associated with positive academic outcomes
such as persistence, grade point average, and degree completion.
The fourth
benchmark, student–faculty interaction, measured the extent to which students
and faculty communicate about academic performance, career plans, course
content, and assignments, revealing that students had broad effective learning
and persistence toward achievement of their educational goals.
Lastly, the benchmark
for support of learners demonstrated that students performed better and were
more satisfied with their learning at colleges where their success was valued,
and where positive working and social relationships existed among various
demographic groups. The engagement literature reveals four research
perspectives for organizing teaching strategies (Zepke & Leach, 2010):
(1)
engaged students are intrinsically motivated and want to achieve their learning
objectives autonomously or with others
(2) students and teachers engage with
each other and respond to learning when the environment is creative, active,
and collaborative
(3) institutions provide support that is conducive to
learning with welcoming institutional cultures providing a variety of support services
(4) students work together with their institution to develop social and
cultural learning as active citizens.
These evidence-based perspectives can be
helpful in designing and adopting teaching and learning strategies for student
engagement and active learning.
Adopting Teaching Strategies for Student Engagement In Nursing Education
Faculty are influenced by a number of
variables when selecting teaching strategies for active learning (Phillips
& Vinten, 2010). Based on Everett Rogers’ (2003) diffusion of innovations
model, faculty are more likely to adopt teaching strategies that are compatible
with their teaching needs, values, and experiences; whether they can be “tried
out” before they are adopted; and whether it is more advantageous to students’
learning needs than other teaching strategies.
This evidence based study sheds
light on some of the variables that influence educators in adopting teaching
strategies and can be taken into consideration when faculty are adopting them
for student engagement and active learning.
Teaching Strategies
Bloom’s revised taxonomy (Anderson &
Krathwohl, 2001) can be used to categorize teaching strategies to promote
student engagement. The knowledge dimension (or the kind of knowledge to be
learned) is composed of four knowledge types:
(1) factual
(2) conceptual
(3)
procedural
(4) metacognitive
Factual knowledge refers to the basic
content students must know to be familiar with a discipline or to solve
problems in it. Conceptual knowledge refers to the relationships between the
basic fundamentals within a larger configuration enabling them to function
together. Procedural knowledge refers to skills, techniques, and methods needed
for specific disciplines.
Metacognitive knowledge is the awareness of one’s own
cognition in addition to cognition in general. Learning objectives and outcomes
for the knowledge types can be created using the six cognitive process
dimensions of Bloom’s revised taxonomy:
(1) remember
(2) understand
(3)
apply
(4) analyze
(5) evaluate
(6) create.
Examples of
select teaching strategies for student engagement are listed alphabetically in
the four knowledge types (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001).