Group work in a nursing curriculum: A teaching strategy to enhance student engagement

Abstract

Short Communication Why was the idea necessary (problem)? Health professions education institutions across the globe are adopting competency-based education (CBE) models. [1] Inherent in CBE is learner centredness, which emphasises the contribution of learners to the learning process. Nursing education institutions (NEIs) in Lesotho adopted CBE for all undergraduate nursing programmes, inspired by the Government's need for improved quality of learning that aligns with global trends in health professions education. [2] Nurse educators from NEIs who adopted CBE use group work as a dominant teaching strategy to enhance learner centredness. Group work, when appropriately applied, is associated with enhanced teamwork, motivation and deep learning. [3] Nursing students in NEIs in Lesotho asynchronously prepare for class activities through engaging with specified learning resources, such as study guides and workbooks. Nurse educators moderate learning in class and randomly assign students to small groups. The use of random allocation is deliberate to prepare them for the authentic clinical environment, where there is no autonomy in choosing team members. As a result, differences in learning styles, personalities and experiences were not taken into account. Each group collectively solves a specific problem, applying knowledge learnt during the asynchronous time. However, educators observed poor engagement, dominance by some students and general disparities in the performance among the groups. Therefore, in view of these challenges, we explored how the students experienced group work.