A Survey of Norwegian Nursing Students’ Responses to Student-Centered Small Group Learning in the Study of Human Anatomy and Physiology

Abstract

Introduction Small group learning (SGL) is a main learning strategy in the study of bioscience subjects in nursing schools. Objectives We evaluated Norwegian nursing students’ responses to the student-centered SGL approach in the study of anatomy and physiology (A&P) and tried to determine what aspects educators should improve regarding the use of SGL in the study of biosciences. Methods A descriptive questionnaire survey was conducted to evaluate Norwegian nursing students’ responses and experiences, for example, motivation, performance, satisfaction, and effectiveness of this new SGL strategy in the study of human A&P. Results Nursing students showed a high motivation and varied experience, for example, different attendance rates, satisfaction, and effectiveness in response to the student-centered SGL strategy in the study of human A&P. In addition, some students reported a low completion rate of assigned work for each SGL session. Additional concerns were collected in the open-end survey section. Subsequent thematic analysis of these comments identified that SGL arrangement and teacher tutorials were the main themes that needed to be improved in future SGL practice. Conclusions The information from this survey might provide new insights to educators to understand what and how we should improve the student-centered SGL work in future teaching practice.