Your Active Learning Roadmap to Engage Nursing Students
Time to read 4 min
"The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery."
š Learning Theory to Practice as an Educator
If you went to grad school for nursing education, chances are you spent a semester knee-deep in learning theories. Memorizing names, making compare-and-contrast charts, and trying to keep constructivism and cognitivism straight in your head. And maybe even creating a teaching presentation that demonstrating a certain theorist. š°
But hereās the real question: Did any of that actually change the way you teach today?
Because while theory is important, it doesnāt always translate to the chaos of a real classroom, where students are disengaged, prep time is limited, and you're just trying to get through all of the material.
Thatās exactly why I created the Active Learning Roadmap for Nurse Educators. This is a private podcast, or audio series, Ā that reviews a systematic plan to help you remove small sections of lecture and implement engaging, student-led strategies that actually work.
š¤© My Favorite Learning Theorist
I know mine for sureāJerome Bruner and his constructivist-based theory about how we learn. One of the core ideas that is ādiscovery learning.ā
Thereās something powerful about that moment when things finally click. When a concept stops feeling abstract and starts to make real-world sense. I love that feeling for myself, and even more, I love watching it happen for my students. That moment when their eyes light up, when they start connecting the dots and thinking like a nurse! Itās not just rewarding, itās the whole reason I love to teach.
Discovery learning involves intentionally creating opportunities for students to do the thinking, not just hear it. And in nursing, that shift is essential. Because real clinical judgment is more than memorizing. It comes from practice, reflection, and figuring it out in the moment.
š§ Active Learning as a Tool for Alignment
For me, active learning is an instructional approach that gives me the tools to teach in a way that aligns with my beliefs about how we learn.Ā
šĀ I want to acknowledge that everyone has different experiences with learning and may have different ideas about how adults and future nurses learn best. Active learning is just a tool.
If this style of teaching feels like something you want to explore further, the Active Learning Roadmap for Nurse Educators is an calm and sustainable approach to starting or refining your active learning classroom.Ā
It is a step-by-step guide that encourages slow, meaningful changes over time. I want to encourage all of us to experiment as nursing educators, followed by thoughtful reflection and intentional modifications. Just one activity at a time can make a world of difference!
šŗļø Roadmap to Active Learning Classroom
The roadmap is available as a Private Podcast. This is an audio-course that you can add to your podcast player of choice and listen to on the go.
Through the audio course, you will review the multiple steps of setting up an active classroom:
Support for active learning in research
Writing learning objectives
Preparing pre-lecture content
Creating a timeline for class
Developing resources for class
Short and long evaluation
Delivery of active learning in class
Once you are done, you will have a plan to remove one small section of lecture and implement an active learning activity.Ā
If you are looking for resources, tools, or templates for activities to use in class or clinical, check out the Idea Bank, which is full of helpful articles and done-for-you templates.
š”Conclusion
Teaching nursing is about creating meaningful learning experiences that help students think like nurses. Active learning supports that mission by encouraging curiosity, clinical judgment, and student-led engagement.Ā
When we intentionally design opportunities for students to explore, connect ideas, and draw their own conclusions, we create space for discovery learning, those powerful āahaā moments when everything clicks.Ā
The Active Learning Roadmap for Nurse Educators is a practical, step-by-step resource designed to help you bring more of those moments into your classroom. You can do create a student-led, high engagement classroom one activity at a time!
Martha Johnson
Martha Johnson, MSN, RN is a nurse educator and the creator of BreakoutRN. She helps nursing faculty build active learning into the classroom and clinical setting, one practical idea at a time, using tools that support clinical judgment, engagement, and real-world nursing practice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is the Active Learning Roadmap and how will it help me?
The Active Learning Roadmap is a step-by-step resource, available as both a private podcast and downloadable article, that guides you in gradually shifting your classroom toward active, student-led learning.
Ā Itās built for busy nurse educators and provides practical, ready-to-implement strategies to replace lecture with student-led, discovery-based activities.
Do I need to overhaul my entire course to use this?
Not at all! The roadmap is designed for small, sustainable changes. You can start with just one section of your course, test an active learning strategy, reflect on its effectiveness, and build from there. Itās flexible and meant to meet you where you are in your active learning journey.
How does discovery learning fit into active learning?
Discovery learning is a core component of active learning. It focuses on allowing students to think critically, explore clinical scenarios, and arrive at conclusions on their own. This process mirrors the real-world demands of clinical judgment and makes learning more engaging and memorable for nursing students.
