Active Learning in Action: Using the Jigsaw Structure in Nursing Education

Promoting Student Independence

As an educator—and now a parent of "middle-aged" children (no longer babies or toddlers, but not quite teenagers)—I’ve become more focused on fostering independence. At home, we often talk about ways they can help, take care of themselves, and notice when they need to act independently. As a teacher, I see clear parallels between parenting and teaching. Just as I encourage my kids to become more independent, I aim to cultivate the same independence in my students, giving them tools to take charge of their learning.

Jigsaw Structure Promotes Student Ownership of Learning

The Jigsaw Structure is a powerful tool for fostering independence and collaboration in the classroom. It’s a collaborative learning strategy that breaks students into small groups, encourages them to master a topic, and then has them teach their peers. This approach not only reinforces content but also promotes accountability and autonomy—key ingredients for lifelong learning. Whether you’re preparing students for a final exam, wrapping up a unit, or tackling a subject with multiple key topics, the Jigsaw Structure is an excellent active learning tool, encouraging engagement while meeting learning outcomes.

And I love puzzles (if you haven’t tried a puzzle from The Magic Puzzle Company yet, I highly recommend!)

Here's how to implement it:

Using the Jigsaw Structure

📝 Decide on the Topics

Begin by identifying the topics you'd like your students to master. You should start with a broad topic that you will divide into subtopics.

• 🫀 If you cover heart failure in an Adult Med-Surg class, you could divide the topic into risk factors, assessment findings, nursing interventions, and patient education.

• 🔂 You could divide the group using Tanner’s Clinical Judgment Model and assign each group the stages of noticing, interpreting, responding, or reflecting.

• 💊 If you are teaching pharmacology and are covering hypertensive medications, the subtopics could be beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, and loop diuretics.

📚Students Develop Expertise on Their Own

Once the subtopics are assigned, students take time to research and dive into their specific area individually. You might give them reading assignments, videos, or case studies related to their topic. This self-directed study phase encourages autonomy and accountability, as each student will become an “expert” and is responsible for teaching others about their topic.

🏡 Meet with the Home Group

After students understand their subtopic, they meet with their "home group,” a small group of students who have also developed expertise on the same topic from the self-study. At this time, students will review their research, synthesize key points, and finalize the main takeaways they plan to share. It’s important that students feel confident in their understanding before moving on to the next step.

👩🏽‍🍳 Mix the Groups

Now, it’s time to shuffle the groups. Each home group is assigned a number, and students are redistributed into new "mixed" groups, ensuring each group has one “expert” from each subtopic. This reshuffling fosters interaction and exposes students to a variety of perspectives and information.

A visual example of the Jigsaw Structure

🧐 Collaborate in Mixed Groups

In the new groups, students take turns teaching their topic. Use a timer to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to share. During each student's presentation, peers should take notes, ask clarifying questions, and discuss the content. This phase promotes critical thinking and encourages students to apply their knowledge as they explain it to others.

🎒Return to the Home Group for Discussion

After collaborating in the mixed groups, students return to their original home groups. They now know all the subtopics and can have a richer discussion. This final discussion is a crucial part of the Jigsaw method, as it allows students to consolidate their learning and apply it to real-world scenarios. At this point, you can either facilitate a large group discussion, let each group debrief on their own, or give them a case study to work through, allowing them to apply what they just learned from other 'experts' and make further connections between theory and practice.

Engage Students through Peer Learning

The Jigsaw method is a powerful way to engage students by making them both learners and teachers. It shifts the classroom dynamic, making learning collaborative and student-driven. Whether you use it for content review or as a strategy to tackle complex, multi-faceted topics, Jigsaw helps students take ownership of their learning while building important communication and critical thinking skills. The next time you're looking for a way to refresh your lesson plan or review content, give Jigsaw a try—it’s an active learning win!

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