Teaching Methods

The University of Alberta Faculty of Nursing is situated in the Edmonton Clinic Health Academy, a 150,000 square meter building that gives students a place for interactive, high-tech collaboration and teamwork. Home to all of the University of Alberta's health science disciplines, Edmonton Clinic Health Academy is designed specifically to teach team-based and patient-centred care.

Programs in the Faculty of Nursing are approved by the Nursing Education Program Approval Committee (NEPAC), which regulates the policies and processes by which a nursing education program becomes and continues to be recognized as an approved nursing education program in Alberta.

Undergraduate nursing education at the University of Alberta is comprised of various components, which combine to deliver a comprehensive theoretical understanding of nursing and opportunities for students to learn and practice hands-on nursing skills.

The most current course descriptions are available on Bear Tracks. If you do not have a UAlberta Campus Computing ID, you can login to Bear Tracks as a Guest. Each course description lists the different course components, as well as includes figures in parentheses which provide information on how the hours of instruction per week are allocated. NURS courses will have lecture and lab hours counted weekly, with the number of clinical hours listed distributed across the entire term. The order of components is Lecture-Cln/Fieldwork/seminar -Lab. For example, a course with 1-130C-2 hours will have 1 hour of lecture and 2 hours of lab every week, with 130 clinical (C) hours spread out across the entire term. A full explanation is available in the Course Listings section of the University Calendar.

Class sizes will vary depending on the specific program and cohort that a student is in. In general, class sizes are approximately as follows:

  • Lectures: 100 - 250+ students
  • Clinical Experiences: 8 students
  • Laboratory Experiences (Labs): 16 students

Learner-Centered Teaching and Learning

The Faculty of Nursing uses a learner-centered approach to teaching and learning that encompasses a variety of inquiry teaching and learning approaches to further our mandate of fostering excellence in nursing education, research and practice. Upon successful completion of their program, graduates from our undergraduate Nursing programs, students will be able to:

  • think critically and analyze real problems
  • find, evaluate, and use resources
  • work collaboratively
  • demonstrate versatility
  • communicate effectively
  • function well in a global community
  • deal with uncertainty and diversity
  • recognize the importance of lifelong learning

Learning Environment

In a learner centered learning environment:

  • Students are proactive and self-directed in their learning.
  • Teaching and learning is a shared responsibility between the students and their instructors.
  • Students learn valuable team/group process skills in addition to nursing knowledge.
  • The purpose of evaluation is to provide valuable feedback on the learning process itself in addition to assessing student progress in meeting course learning objectives. As adult learners, students are encouraged to reflect on their learning as a means of developing internal criteria for self-assessment of learning.

Teaching and Learning Approaches

The Faculty of Nursing is committed to offering diversity in teaching and learning approaches and experiences to promote student engagement. Instructors use a variety of classroom course delivery methods including:

  • Lecture
  • Small and large group discussion
  • Flipped classroom
  • Gaming