Hello again!

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Moving ahead on this series about obstacles nursing instructors face when moving toward an active learning classroom.

Week 1:Introduction​
Week 2: Understanding Student Expectations
Week 3: Keep reading … 👇🏽

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⚠️ We feel the resistance

A common objection to using active learning is student resistance. And while there is a variety of research on the benefits of active learning, there has not been much specifically on resistance to active learning. And this is something that we have felt - sometimes on the surface, sometimes deep in our hearts.

💪 What is student resistance?

Student resistance is any behavior that makes an instructor less likely to use a teaching tool or instructional strategy. Behaviors include:

• passively refusing to participate in an activity
• complaining disrupting group work or distracting group members
• giving poor instructor evaluations
• low student motivation around the activity

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So even if we believe in active learning as an educational strategy, it can still be challenging to carry on when students show resistant behaviors.

📒What does the research say?

Until recently, much of what we understood about resistance to active learning was subjective, opinions, and stories from other instructors. But there is new research that is encouraging and here is what it found: Instructors overestimate the level of students’ resistance in active learning classroom.

And most students reported the activities as valuable and engaging.

*Please note that this research focused on general education and STEM courses, and if you are looking for a doctoral project, you could narrow this focus to nursing education for a doctoral project.

So that is encouraging, right? In addition, this research also found that the strongest predictors of student acceptance of active learning were within an instructor’s control. These include using specific strategies, how the content was explained/presented, and techniques to keep the students on track. Researchers also explored factors that had minimal influence on student acceptance. These are typically outside of an instructor’s control and include variables such as class size, student or instructor gender, and student grade point average.

⬇️ So what are ways to lower student resistance?

Explanation Strategies 🗣️

​Last week’s email included some ideas about setting expectations, but this strategy takes the communication one step further and emphasizes explaining how the activity can improve learning and retention.

Example 1: When teaching ABG interpretation, I asked students to learn one interpretation method outside of class through a video lesson. Then, when we came together in class, I asked them to teach their group the technique they had learned. I can improve my explanation strategy by connecting the “why” to the activity. Why would it be important to understand an alternative method? How does teaching a technique to a peer demonstrates mastery?

Lesson: Connect the activity to the real-world and practice as a nurse.

Example 2: I recently had my first speaking engagement at the Minnesota Health Educator’s Conference. I had an engaging activity for small groups, but I did not do a great job explaining it the first time. I was nervous, and I ran through the instructions quickly. People were confused, not sure where to go next, and unsure of what the end goal was at all. I presented again immediately after and took my time explaining the activity, even repeating the end goal multiple times, and the entire activity ran smoother.

Lesson: Clear instructions can make all the difference.

Facilitation Strategies 🪄

In my opinion, the best way to facilitate an active learning classroom is to role model the behavior. When I’m active, students are active. Walk around the class, answer questions, and engage with the groups. Create an environment of openness, where it is ok to be wrong and ask questions. The more that the instructor engages, the more likely it is that students will engage positively. Another simple facilitation strategy is to reward participation.

⭐Looking for engaging techniques to use in class or clinical? Check out the Idea Bank for articles on active learning techniques and worksheet templates or BreakoutRN Products for ready-to-go learning tools.

📌 How you can use this strategy in your classroom:

Choose one active learning activity from a current course. Look at how you initially explain it to students and think about how you can improve the introduction to the activity. Do you need to spend more time? Can you tell students what to expect in an announcement? Can you also include additional visual, audio, or text instructions to support all learners? Is there a template or guided note worksheet to help structure their work? Are there examples from previous classes of stellar work?

Until next week, Martha

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References

Andrews, M., Prince, M., Finelli, C., Graham, M., Borrego, M., & Husman, J. (2021). Explanation and facilitation strategies reduce student resistance to active learning. College Teaching.

Andrews, M. E., Graham, G., Prince, M. Borrego, M., Finelli, C. J., & Husman, J. (2020). Student resistance to active learning: Do instructors (mostly) get it wrong? Australasian Journal of Engineering Education, 25(2), 142–154.

Finelli, C. J., Nguyen, K. A., DeMonbrun, R. M., Borrego, M., Prince, M. J., Husman, J., Henderson, C., Shekhar, P., & Waters, C. K. (2018). Reducing student resistance to active learning: Strategies for instructors. Journal of College Science Teaching, 47(5), 80–91.

Tharayil, S., Borrego, M., Prince, M., Nguyen, K. A., Shekhar, P., Finelli, C. J., & Waters, C. (2018). Strategies to mitigate student resistance to active learning. International Journal of STEM Education, 5, Article 7.