[Health didactics: undergraduates' nursing representations and the use of an innovative teaching strategy]

This study aimed at analyzing the representations regarding the relationships between Nursing and Education practices, to reveal expectations regarding the course Fundamentals, Methods and Techniques of Teaching and evaluate the use of the Projects Method. Method this is a qualitative evaluation research performed between April and June 2007 with first-year nursing students of a Baccalaureate Degree Program. The data were analyzed based on the Social Representations framework and the constructivist postulates. The students revealed that their learning expectations were related with the contents of didactics, human communication, and the teaching-learning process. The Projects Method was considered capable of providing dynamism, interest towards the content, and the ability to associate theory and practice, in addition to having favored the amplitude and appreciation of the educate/care binomial. In conclusion, health didactics contents are capable of generating students' interest, especially when an innovative methodology is used.