Intentional learning: a student-centered pedagogy

Objective: The objective was to test the assumption that characteristics of intentional learning are not fixed and if an interview assignment enhanced intentional learning. Methods: In order to meet the needs of practice, nursing educators have trialed student-centered pedagogies, often with resistance from students. Intentional learning appears to mirror the characteristics, such as autonomy, responsibility of one's own learning, self-regulation, and motivation, needed by students to be successful in student-centered pedagogies. Intentional learning had not been studied in nursing. A quasi-experimental pre/post-test design was used to test intentional learning in nursing students (N=92). Results: While the interview assignment did not enhance intentional learning scores, intentional learning scores did significantly increase over the semester (p=0.039). Conclusion: Intentional learning scores did increase, showing that students move along the intentional learning continuum depending on their learning experiences. Future research should include testing teaching strategies that foster intentional learning.