Classroom Concepts in the Clinical Setting: Student Perceptions of Concept Cards

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Clinical Pedagogy

Background:

• Undergraduate nursing education faces content saturation challenges.
• Concept-based curricula are increasingly adopted to address this issue.
• Integration of conceptual learning into clinical education remains limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate student perceptions of concept cards as a clinical learning activity.
• To assess the effectiveness of concept cards in maternity and medical-surgical nursing practicum.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative descriptive study design.
• Data collected in maternity and medical-surgical clinical settings.
• Student perceptions of concept card effectiveness were measured across two study phases.

Main Results:

• Concept cards were perceived by students to deepen conceptual understanding.
• The activity reinforced learning in the clinical environment.
• Concept cards were found to enhance overall student learning during clinical practicum.

Conclusions:

• Concept-based learning activities, such as concept cards, are effective in clinical nursing education.
• Integrating concept cards can improve the depth and reinforcement of learning in clinical settings.
• Further exploration of concept-based strategies in clinical nursing education is warranted.