Using innovative strategies to enhance health promotion critical literacy

New and improved teaching strategies are required to engage students in meaningful coursework to enhance critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making. Advanced practice nurses are responsible for producing creative and realistic health promotion and disease prevention proposals, which have the potential for implementation as part of a course requirement. Unfortunately, these proposals often lack the sophistication and critical literacy necessary to effectively communicate the student's knowledge and understanding of their ideas. Infusing critical thinking and critical literacy into all curricula is one of the stated goals of the university-wide "Enhancing Critical Literacy Project." This learning-centered program serves as the platform for this article and the early adoption of selected student assessment techniques. Concepts presented as part of a critical literacy enhancement seminar provides the theoretical underpinning of this approach and is designed to encourage student innovation through creative writing. A detailed description of the various strategies and their implementation are discussed.