Nursing Student Experiences with Face-to-Face Learning

Face-to-face learning has been the mainstay of nursing student learning. Despite moves to online learning, face-to-face learning persists. This study focuses on how nursing students experience face-to-face learning and why it not only survives, but thrives. This study was anchored in a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, with Gadamerian concepts and van Manen's lifeworlds as frameworks to understand students' experiences of face-to-face learning. Patterns and themes were extracted from audiorecorded face-to-face interviews. Participants confirmed that face-to-face learning continues to be valued as a strong methodology in nursing education. Their experiences focused on humanism, the importance of "presence," physical proximity, classroom as "the real thing," immediacy of feedback, and learning and knowing by human connections and interaction. The study findings were a rich source for understanding how nursing students process learning experiences. Increased understanding of the meaning and essence of face-to-face learning is essential as we decide how nursing content will be taught.