Undergraduate nursing students' perceptions of active learning strategies: A focus group study

Background: Active learning strategies have been identified as promoting critical thinking, strengthening clinical reasoning, and supporting the transfer of theoretical knowledge to practice amongst nursing students.Aim: This study aimed to understand the undergraduate nursing students' perceptions of the active learning strategies being used in the classroom and to identify critical elements within their learning spaces which contribute to their learning.Design: Qualitative, focus group study. Setting: A four-year undergraduate baccalaureate nursing program in the Middle East. Participants: 50 undergraduate nursing students selected through purposive and snowball sampling participated in the study. Methods: Five focus group sessions were conducted with 10 participants in each session. Data collected from the discussions were transcribed and thematically analyzed and aligned with the Taxonomy of Significant Learning.Results: Study results show that undergraduate nursing students affirm that the use of active learning strategies supports the acquisition of foundational understanding, application and integration of knowledge, caring about the learning process, learning to learn, and the human dimension of learning. Participants also identified how best active learning strategies should be utilized and aspects of learning spaces that promote learning.Conclusions: Although the use of active learning strategies positively enhances the learning process, it is important to ensure that strategies are intentionally integrated into the classroom and aligned with the expected learning outcomes. Considerations of the learning space used are also of importance.