Donna Meyer: Good afternoon, everyone. It's wonderful to see all of you today as we're joining for our July 2026 Elevate series, Moving Students Beyond Memorization: Practical Active Learning Strategies for Nurse Educators. We're very pleased you're here with us today. We know this is summertime and nurse educators should be taking a break. So we appreciate you being here. And this also will be recorded. So after the presentation, if you want to refer back to it, you'll be getting an email, and you'll be able to listen to the recording also. So welcome back. I'm Donna Meyer, the Nursing Education Advisor for our Level Up RN. And with me today is Kelley Larson, who's the Vice President of Learning Solutions, and Angelina Guzman, who's the Senior Manager of Learning Success. Together, we support the nursing programs engaged with Level Up RN Resources, and we're here always to answer questions and to help you. We're very interested in forming educational partnerships with your schools, and both Kelley and I are nurse educators, so we understand the many challenges and opportunities that you all face on a daily basis. We have been having the Elevate series since January of 2026, and we really have had a wonderful dialogue with so many of you, so we appreciate your time.
Donna Meyer: The purpose of the Elevate series is just to bring nurse educators together so we can discuss some of the challenges that you have faced every day, and to provide answers for you. We always have nurse educators with us. And, of course, today is no exception. And you'll be hearing from our nurse educators in a little bit. I also wanted to just remind you of a few items for Zoom housekeeping. You can use the chat for questions and comments. We love when people share. The last few Elevate series have been so engaging, people putting chat in, asking questions, and that's what we want because we want this to be for you. You can also use the Q&A feature, and, again, encouraging active discussion. Now, I'm going to turn it over to Kelley, who's going to talk a little bit about our agenda and provide some background on our topic today. Kelley?
Kelley Larson: Perfect. Thank you, Miss Donna. So a little bit about the Elevate series. As Donna had mentioned, we're doing these monthly webinars. So we're super excited to have you guys with us today and have some series that are going to be coming out again next month. So for today's topic, Patrick, if you can-- perfect. So today, we've got a bunch of things lined up for you guys. We're super excited to really talk about what are some of those challenges with teaching that you may encounter in the first year that make active learning a little bit difficult. We're also going to talk about practical engagement strategies that increase participation, increase critical thinking, increase your students' participation. We're also going to talk about simple activities that can really help strengthen clinical judgment and expand on the students' learning. And then we'll share some teaching resources that will help you as faculty save time while really supporting student success. Next slide, Patrick. Perfect.
Kelley Larson: So today, we're here really to talk a bit about active learning. And really to kind of frame our conversation, I thought it would be really helpful to start to talk about really what is teaching. And I think we all know teaching is not telling, right? We want our students to understand and to be deep, deep thinkers so that they can use clinical judgment. But to develop those clinical judgment skills, they have to be able to start to develop a few things. They have to start to be able to develop the ability to notice the meaningful cues, to make the connections, to defend their decisions, and to learn from their mistakes, and then really reflect on their thinking because that's what drives that learning a bit deeper. And so from the educator standpoint, really, our role is not to tell the students what to think, but it's really to create those learning experiences that teach them how to use knowledge in a meaningful way, really teaching them how to think. So next slide, please. The challenge is that I think this is what we all really want to do, right? We want to be working with students who are actively engaged, interested in learning really how to apply things in nursing. But we get a little stuck because our students come back and say things to us like, "Is this going to be on the test? Will I have a study guide? Can you just tell me exactly what I need to know? Or can you remind me of these things?"
Kelley Larson: And we kind of find that our students are asking us to just spoon feed or give them this information, but not necessarily show them how to use it because they don't understand the value of that. And so because as educators, we're here to help. We want our students to be smart. We want them to be successful nurses. A lot of times when we hear these requests because we're dealing with competing priorities, right, we respond by doing more. And we give more lectures, more notes, more study guides, more answers. But it's creating a bit of an unintended result. And so what happens is the educator's the one doing all the work. They're doing all the thinking. But we're already nurses where we need our students to do a lot of the thinking. So today, we're going to talk about some of those active learning strategies that help deepen that thinking a bit. So next slide, please, Patrick.
Kelley Larson: So active learning, it's tricky, right? There's some challenges that come along with active learning. And so from the educator standpoint, it's really shifting from being this expert nurse that knows all of the information to being shifted into the facilitator to really pull the information out of the students. It shifts our role from being the lecturer to the coach and really coaching for the behaviors that we're wanting to see from the students in terms of their own questioning. And then it shifts us as educators from giving answers to really asking the questions, asking them, "Why are you thinking that?" Or, "What would you be doing next?" Or, "What other things should be considered?" From the student's perspective, they have to really get involved, right? They don't get to be passive in their learning experience. And so instead of coming into class and sitting down and letting faculty do all of the work and they listen, it really shifts them from being a listener to a thinker.
Kelley Larson: Shifts them from being memorizers of facts to really applying those facts from being receivers of information to discovering. And I think one of the most magical things that we can do as educators is help our students get very curious because a curious student is a thinking student. And so as we do this, that work shifts a little bit. It shifts from us doing a whole bunch of things to us doing a little bit less telling and asking our students to do a little bit more thinking. And so today, we're going to talk through ways to do that. So with that, Patrick, let's move to our next slide.
Kelley Larson: So challenges, a little bit of the challenges that we think educators face. Have you had students come to class and you've been prepared to do active learning and yet nobody comes prepared? It's really hard to do your activity if nobody's really quite ready or if the learners are really memorizing the facts but they're struggling to apply them. So they could rattle off on a test question - I know the signs or symptoms of this - but could they recognize it in a case study or if they saw it in a simulation or clinical? Classroom discussions can often be driven only by a few students, not really getting the entire class to engage. So there's some ways to be able to do that. We also hear that clinical judgment doesn't always transfer from lecture into practice. So they could talk about it in one context, but can they really do it when it matters? And then there never seems to be enough time because we're working against the constructs of how much time do we get with the students. So these two, they're real challenges, but we're hoping today that we'll talk through some potential solution. Next slide, please. So now we want to hear from you. We want to get your feedback. So we put a poll question up. And so as you get a chance to go ahead and answer that question, what we're wondering is truly, what has been your biggest challenge as a nurse educator?
Donna Meyer: I always enjoy these polls. It's fun to see as people are answering.
Kelley Larson: And so I'm going to give everybody just a couple more minutes to submit their answers. We've got a couple of folks jumping in there still. Perfect. And it looks like, from the results, that an overwhelming amount of the audience has said that really helping students think critically is still a big challenge. Perfect. So with that, we're going to transition to our panelists. So go ahead, Ms. Donna.
Donna Meyer: All right. Well, it's my pleasure to once again introduce Kim Smith and Charise Lavaretta. They have both presented for us before, and they do an excellent job. So I just wanted to do a brief introduction. Kim is an associate teaching professor at Cloud Community College, which is in Kansas, just to give you all some-- we have some geographic distance here. She has a varied background, as you can see from the slide, and she's definitely very engaged in active learning and trying to get her students to think and do some different things in the classroom, even though sometimes they're not always enthused. But Kim has been able to change their minds a little bit on that. I also want to mention that Kim is a graduate of Cloud Community College and now is a faculty member. That's always a wonderful thing to see. Charise is a nurse practitioner and nursing faculty member at Cerro Cosa Community College, which is in California. She has had a varied career, spent lots of time, started as an LVN, obviously RN ICU nurse, and ultimately, as a nurse practitioner and a hospitalist today. She has had multiple experiences and also attended Cerro Cosa Community College as a student and is now a faculty member there. So I think that's just a wonderful story to see. Obviously, they enjoyed their education, and they returned to their institution where they received their first nursing degree. Next slide, please. So so what we like to do is ask our panelists some questions. So question one, and I'm going to start with Kim. Looking back on your first year of teaching, what surprised you most about engaging nursing students?
Kim Smith: Thinking about this, what surprised me most was a couple of things. One, how much they really don't prepare before they come to class, and they are really dependent on us to just give them information. And then second was that I was under the-- I really needed to make this perfect PowerPoint to engage the students, have all the pictures and all the things. And really, it just needed to be meaningful to get them engaged. It needed to be more than me just presenting the material well and talking to them. I needed to give them some time to really wrestle with that material to be able to answer questions and stuff.
Donna Meyer: Charise, what do you think?
Charise Lavarreda: So similar to Kim, one of my biggest surprises during my first year of teaching was realizing that just simply knowing nursing wasn't the same as knowing how to teach nursing. I actually had no formal education as a nurse educator, so I was naturally teaching the way that I had been taught, which was that very traditional sage-on-the-stage approach. And quite frankly, it was tedious for me. It was horrible for the students, I'm sure. I don't think anyone was engaged in the first few lectures. But as I progressed, I started experimenting with active learning strategies that I had learned from various seminars that I had watched. So I could not believe the difference. Student engagement went from almost nonexistent, honestly, to nearly every student was participating, talking, a lot of group activities. So that gave them-- I feel like it allowed them to feel like it was okay to be wrong and not put them on the spot by kind of having smaller groups. And more importantly, I feel like I noticed they weren't just memorizing the content. They were finally starting to think, ask questions, and develop that clinical judgment. It definitely changed my philosophy of teaching, having the experience. And I realized my role wasn't just to deliver that information. It was really to create a learning experience that would help them think like a nurse, which is a whole, as you guys know, a whole different way of thinking.
Donna Meyer: True. Thanks, Charise and Kim. Charise, you mentioned something that is so true. You said, obviously, in your experience, you were a nurse, and all of us that became educators obviously started as a nurse. But just because you are a nurse and you're a good clinician, going into that classroom lab setting, whatever, is very different. And I think all of you that are out there, maybe if this is your first year or two, it can be challenging because it is different to start to-- even if you have gone through a master's program, and even if it's a nursing education, you are not taught, I don't think, exactly, how to teach and all the different aspects of it. So if you're struggling a little bit as a nurse educator, it's okay. We all struggled as nurse educators. And it just takes time. And I think, as Charise and Kim said, though, having these active learning strategies so that you can work with the students makes it much more fun for you as an educator and also much more engaging for them, and also helps in their learning. So question two, what was the biggest challenge you faced in helping students move beyond memorization to critical thinking and clinical judgment? And I'm going to start with you, Charise, to answer that.
Charise Lavarreda: So I have been thinking about this question and how to really answer it. But I think it was getting the students to realize that they have the foundation to use clinical judgment and that they just needed to kind of pull through the process to kind of be able to get to feeling more comfortable. So many students come into the nursing school believing that there's only a right answer, but that's not always the case in nursing. And so a lot of students I see, they just want to memorize the information, but like you guys have been saying, they don't really know how to apply it. So I think helping them shift from memorization to that intentional coaching and helping them, and then watching them learn how to think like a nurse or use clinical judgment. It's pretty cool. But that was the biggest challenge, and teaching myself how to be a coach, too, because initially, it's hard.
Charise Lavarreda: So some ways I try to do that is I encourage the students to use their textbooks in the classroom, not just reading them, but I try to create active assignments where they're having to actually open their textbook in the classroom, read through it, and then, "Okay, what does that mean? How might that look in a clinical setting?" And so that was one pretty successful thing that I feel like I was able to implement. It kind of allows them to justify their clinical decision in the clinical setting. And then I like to challenge them with the questions that we heard earlier. Just what are you noticing? What are your concerns with this? What do you think is happening and why? Those types of questions and getting them to think. But yeah, that was my biggest challenge.
Donna Meyer: Thanks, Charise. Kim?
Kim Smith: Yeah. Pretty similar to what she said. It's helping them move past being uncomfortable in uncertainty and not knowing the answer because they do want that one right textbook answer for everything. And that's just not real life. That's not how patients are. They're not going to follow the textbook exactly. And so getting them to shift from what is the correct answer to what is the safest priority. What is really going on here? Moving from that what to why, and then that shift in thinking. So doing different things like putting pictures in my PowerPoint where they have to look, "Okay, tell me what you're seeing with this patient." Just the visual cues, just a general survey, or patient scenarios, case studies, or real-life examples. I mean, there's one activity they do where there are four friends that have to meet in one area, one place for dinner to get together, kind of a reunion type thing. But now the weather has shifted. So there's a big storm, or one of them gets a flat tire. So they have to think outside of that box. And so it's showing them they're using this critical thinking and clinical judgment on a daily basis. They just don't realize it.
Donna Meyer: Thanks, Kim. There's a couple of comments in the chat. One individual, Doris, said, "I always tell students not to work like a nurse, but think like a nurse." And that's exactly what we're trying to do because it is different. I do think we all, as nurses, have learned thinking as a nurse is very different. And I also liked the comment from Monica that said, "We used to visit each other's classrooms to observe and learn different active learning methods when someone was very good at them." And so that's definitely true. As faculty, we need to share with each other, support each other. We know that as nurse educators, it is hard, and it requires a lot of work, a lot of preparation. And so we really need to support each other, especially in that classroom. So I thought that was a great idea. So thank you so much for sharing that. So I guess we'll move on to question three. Whoop If you go back to your first semester of teaching and I know for Charise, that's not been too long ago, but what is one strategy or piece of advice you wish someone had shared with you? So, Kim, I'm going to go ahead and start with you this time.
Kim Smith: I mean, looking back and everything, I wish somebody would have told me I don't have to fill every minute with talking or that I don't have to give every bit of information out of the chapter. I didn't have to be the one to do it all. Some of that can be put on the students by doing those discussions, allowing that productive struggle and silence in there so they can get that engagement. So letting them be a little uncomfortable is okay.
Donna Meyer: That's true. And that's actually a very good point, especially I think for new educators and even educators that have been for a while. We have a tendency to want to fill, as Kim started out by saying, every minute. And that's not necessarily our role. We need to get the students to be filling some of those minutes by doing some critical thinking application in the class. And some of the comments that Charise and Kim have already made about how they would show a picture, or what do you think? That's putting it on. And I love the idea of if there's a little bit of silence, that's okay. Charise, what do you think?
Charise Lavarreda: So I would tell myself that it doesn't have to be done the way I've seen it done or the way others are doing it. It's okay to try something different. And if it flops, you don't have to repeat that activity again, but it's okay to try new things. I think using that academic freedom is the way that we can create meaningful learning experiences and sometimes can be the most impactful changes in the classroom by us ourselves too becoming a little uncomfortable and not doing it kind of just how I've only seen it done. So I would definitely tell myself that. And then remind myself that student success really is a partnership. It's not a linear path where I'm just giving information. Students are memorizing it. And that the learning really is going to be happening in that interaction, the questioning, the reflection, the application, and shifting from being the primary source of information to really becoming a facilitator of learning and engaging the students, watching them become more confident, and using developing clinical judgment. So, yeah, I would tell myself it's okay to do things differently than I have seen it done.
Donna Meyer: Really good point. I think sometimes, as educators, we know how we were taught. And obviously, things have changed dramatically. And obviously, you both are very young in your nursing education careers, but still, things change. And so I think that's an excellent point that you made, that just do it differently. You're learning to fill your comfort zone with that.
Charise Lavarreda: Well, and my point to that or a point to that, too, is I don't know all different programs. But I know in our program, some of the educators are fairly seasoned educators. And they kind of still are having a hard time flopping to a more active or flipped classroom setting. And so I wouldn't say anyone gave me a lot of pushback, but "Oh, I don't do it that way," or, "You might get this negative comments from the students," but I haven't. My students have really enjoyed it. And like I told you guys, I've gone through three cohorts now. And that first cohort, I mean, I was putting myself to sleep talking. So I just felt so bad for them. And it only took me about three weeks that I was like, "This has to change. I cannot do this for 16 weeks." So I changed it, and it's working. [laughter]
Donna Meyer: Kim, were you going to add something? It looked like you were going to add something.
Kim Smith: I was boring myself talking. So I was like, "I don't have to fill every minute." And so putting those activities and engaging them and everything is just-- it's the best way to get them to remember the material and to do that active recall that they need for that to remember to be able to put the pieces together.
Charise Lavarreda: I noticed it went from, "Are we almost done?" to, "Wow, our time's already up?" I would hear comments about that. And so I was like, "Okay, I'm doing something better." [laughter]
Donna Meyer: That's great. Yeah. Wonderful for both of you. So we are going to be talking about some active learning strategies in a few minutes. But prior to doing that, I'm going to turn it back over to Kelley for a moment, and next slide.
Kelley Larson: So just real quick, I know we've got a bunch of folks on our call today, but just to kind of highlight the product features essentially within Flashables, to give some context to what Charise and Kim are going to talk about in ways they might use this for active learning. But for our audience today, just to note, and I'll do a little bit of a walkthrough of the platform in our presentation a little bit, but our product consists of flashcards, videos, practice questions, dosage calculation. And so we've got resources that can be utilized in a bunch of different ways to really bring the classroom to life. One of the things that we do is we do offer free access to nurse educators to Flashables. And we'll talk a little bit about that in just a bit. But in terms of the context of the resources, I just wanted to provide a real quick overview. And then we'll jump into more of those details in just a bit.
Donna Meyer: Okay. So now we're going to talk a little bit about some practical teaching strategies. But I do want to mention we have a comment in the chat. And I thought maybe Kim or Charise, you can address this. I'll go ahead and read it because I'm not sure if you can see it. But I teach microbiology to students in nursing major and frequently use case studies to connect course content to clinical practice, which is an excellent exercise. However, students often find the clinical reasoning and diagnostic components challenging. What strategies have you found effective for helping students navigate the clinical and diagnostic aspects using case studies? So, Kim, looks like you came off mute, and you're going to maybe talk a little bit about using case studies and could help with this question.
Kim Smith: So when I am teaching that I use just short little case studies and have them look at what is going on, and then, "Okay, I see these symptoms. Now, tell me what labs they're going to use. Are they going to have to have a biopsy? What are you going to see in these labs?" I mean, just small things to try to pull it together. It is harder in those science courses, especially if you have pre-nursing students that have not had any nursing background at all. But to have those discussions to try to pull it together is what I have done so far. And I'm always hoping for discussion and new ways to do things.
Charise Lavarreda: I was going to kind of say the same thing as Kim. It kind of depends on where they're at. If they're not quite yet in nursing and actually being taught how to critically think yet, the case studies are probably going to be a lot harder. But one way I try to tie it together is make it relevant to them. So urinary tract infections are pretty common. And so I'll talk to them-- for micro, you could talk about the bacteria, the culture, the sensitivity, and how we drive antibiotic coverage by that information, something like that. So just making it to something that is relevant to them or to most people. I mean, it's not going to be to everyone but--
Donna Meyer: Thank you so much. I hope that helped answer the question and gave you some ideas. So just talking about some of the practical teaching strategies, could one or both of you maybe address ticket to class, how you've used that? I know, Charise, you have but maybe Kim has too. So if you want to talk a little bit about ticket to class?
Charise Lavarreda: Yeah. So for ticket to class, I've used various activities, but my goal is usually to try to have them prepared for whatever we're going to be doing in the classroom. So I normally will give them-- one way I've used Level Up for this, actually, is I've sent them the link to a video I want them to watch, and I ask them to watch it and answer two questions or something like that. And they have to-- the idea is they're going to hand me that or email it to me or somehow give me their answers. But ultimately, what we end up doing is doing-- well, number three, we might do a think-pair-share. So they've kind of already done it, but I'll start out with like, "Okay. Think about that video you watched yesterday or this morning. And then I want you to pair up with your neighbor and have a one-minute discussion, and then we're going to have an open discussion." So that's one way I've used it.
Donna Meyer: Great. Thanks. Kim, what about you? Do you have anything to add?
Kim Smith: Pretty similar. Their ticket to class may be watching a video and be ready to discuss that when they get there or the knowledge checks, which is the next one, where they're assigned one of the knowledge questions throughout the chapter, and they have to bring the answer with them to that question. Or it could be just a short discussion question that they were assigned that they have to answer before they come. We team teach. So there's a multitude of different tickets to class, activities that they may have to do, so.
Donna Meyer: Great. And also, with ticket to class, you can also have an exit from class, which is students usually do want to exit. So another strategy on the opposite end is doing an exit where they do an exercise and then maybe have to hand in two questions. So another aspect of it. What about retrieval practice and knowledge checks? Have you done that at all? It's really an idea of using different flashcards or practice questions just to reinforce and identify some different knowledge gaps. So it's another way of doing something different in class that you could do. I think, again, using a flashcard where they have to kind of just put it up and then maybe the answers aren't there, but let's say it's a drug flashcard and you can have things where it says mode of action, indications, all that, instead of just asking them the questions and then flip it over. And that's one way you could do it. I know, Charise, you talked about Think-Pair-Share. You want to just maybe explain that a little bit more, what you're doing?
Charise Lavarreda: Yeah. So I mentioned it a little bit, but I'll give another example. I'm preparing for the fall semester, and I'm going to be teaching the third semester BN students this fall. So I'm already thinking about icebreakers. And one of the things I'm going to use is a Think-Pair-Share because it's quick. It gives the students time. So you give them a topic and then a timeframe. So think for 30 seconds to yourself. Do not talk to your neighbor. Do not get on your tablet. I mean, I normally don't let them have their phone-- or I try to not. They're adults, but no phones or whatever. But just for 30 seconds, you're just going to think about this idea. And then you're going to pair up with your neighbor and talk for one minute and share your guys' thoughts on the topic. And then we will share as a group. That's how I utilize it. And so I'll give you an example. I might just start out with something simple. What are we measuring when we check a blood pressure? Just to kind of be the icebreaker for coming back into third semester after this long break? So that's kind of how I use it.
Donna Meyer: Great. Kim, do you have anything to add with Think-Pair-Share?
Kim Smith: Questions or a topic like that. Kind of the same thing where they just have to think about it for a minute and then get to discuss it. And then as a group, then we start talking about whatever the topic is, so.
Donna Meyer: There's a comment from Megan. Hi, Megan. It's nice to see or hear from you. So she mentions that, especially with the retrieval practice and knowledge check, she has the students turn to their partner and tell them two things they remember from the last class. And she said, "This is done at the top of each class session. Lets them practice retrieval." Great idea. Really great idea. Thanks for sharing. Next is student-led teaching, kind of where students explain concepts and talk about answers and stuff, teach peers to peers. Have either of you used that particular method?
Charise Lavarreda: I have. And I have an example or another example of actually being able to pull in the level up RN resources for this by I broke the students up into groups, and it did take a long time. I ended up modifying it quite a bit the second time we did it. But I broke them up into groups and I gave them each a video to watch. So we had to scatter, and I ended up having to put one of them into another classroom that was empty because it was getting too loud. But they each watched the video, and then they had to come back. I think I had them make a three to five-slide presentation and demonstrate the assessment that would be appropriate. I think that's what I did. They loved it. The students loved getting up in front of each other. I mean, initially, they were kind of like, "Oh, we have to get in front of the class?" But at the end, everyone was very engaged. They were critiquing themselves and kind of, "Oh, I should have said it this way." And I thought it worked really well, I did it another time. So that was one way that I've done some student-led teaching. And if Kim doesn't have an example, I have another one too, but I'll let Kim talk.
Kim Smith: I teach mental health, and so I use student-led teaching in letting them-- especially with the personality disorders, they do role play, I guess, would be a way they come up to explain the personality disorder. They act as that personality, as they're explaining what the signs and symptoms are of this personality and how you would deal with that personality as a nurse, and setting those boundaries and stuff. And I've even had some students come back and say, "I got a question about this personality disorder on the NCLEX, and I remember so-and-so acting this way in class." And it helped them actually answer their question on the NCLEX.
Donna Meyer: Great. Charise, did you say you had another one?
Charise Lavarreda: So AI is obviously everywhere. And as a group, we were kind of talking about how to teach the students how to use it appropriately. And so I had them use AI to develop NCLEX-style questions. So they did that in a group, and then they had to take their three or five questions, whatever it was. And then I had them pass it to the next group, and then they peer-reviewed it using the textbook to cross-reference, "Did AI develop a question that actually is relevant? Is the answer correct?" And then they kind of presented how they felt at the end. And we went through the NCLEX questions, and then they each kind of talked about how-- was it eye-opening? And one of the groups ended up having a question that was completely wrong. So that was kind of a nice and eye-opening for them to see AI is not foolproof and that you still have to peer-to-peer and make sure that it's correct. So that was a fun one.
Donna Meyer: Great. We have some great comments also in the chat right now. Emily, who teaches OB-- this is fun and people are responding, but I just want to bring everyone into the conversation. She said, "I give each group a baby doll, and they have to make the doll match a diagnosis for newborns, such as hyperbilirubin, and present their baby with findings, care to the class, and they have two weeks to do this before presenting. So fun." And then Megan also sent-- Megan Stevens, again, in lab teaching about medical devices and different lines. She said, "I had students create a two to three-minute info commercial on what the line is, how often it's used, important things to remember. Wonderful. It was such a quick activity to implement and fun to see." So some amazing ideas. And this is what Elevate Series is all about, having you all share. So this is great fun. I know we have-- Kelley's going to present again, but I do want to get through a couple more. This get-carded, I thought, was fun. Charise mentioned this earlier to us. And so I did want to have time for you to, talk about get-carded. [laughter]
Charise Lavarreda: I meant to bring them, but I forgot. But it's basically-- I just have some index cards, and I have them on a key ring, and I keep them in my pocket during clinical. And so if I see students working on their-- collecting data at the computer or whatever, I'll go up to them, and I'll just tell them, "You're carded." And they have to-- I just kind of open it up. They can't see what they're picking. They pick a card out. And on the backside, it will have a question that says, "Tell me the most critical lab and why," or, "Tell me what medication that you're giving today that made you feel the most uncomfortable," or, "Tell me what clinical data that you found in the computer-- how did that impact your assessment," or something. I have them written down. I mean, it's all pre-written down. Last semester, I was teaching an RN in the clinical, and they, at the end-- a couple of weeks, I heard someone say, "Hey, we didn't get carded." I said, "Well, we were just so busy. We had really sick patients." So I think the feedback, to me, it gave me a good feeling that, "Okay, they like getting carded." [laughter]
Donna Meyer: We have a couple more role-play and book report. Did either of you want to say anything specifically about those two activities? I think they are fairly self-explanatory, but, Kim, would you like to add to that?
Kim Smith: I talked about role-play, but the book report is a good way to get them to dive into their textbook in the class and actually have to get into the materials. And you can, just by assigning them a topic-- break them into groups, assign them a topic. They have to dig into that book to read about it. And then it's kind of a student-led-teaching-book-report type thing where they're going to report on what they found when they got into their textbook.
Donna Meyer: Yeah. Nice to get into the textbook sometimes too. [laughter] Charise, you have a request. "Would you be willing to share your cards for the get-carded activity? I love that idea," they said. And that is from Peggy.
Charise Lavarreda: I was responding. I don't have them with me, but I'll type over here some of the questions that I know that I have written. And then you can make it whatever you think would be fun for your students to have to critically think. That's the whole point of it, is just to help them kind of identify the important data or see how they're thinking. Because it also can identify-- maybe they need a little remediation, or they might need a little help kind of getting started in their day.
Donna Meyer: Great. Well, this has been really fun, lots of great ideas. I hope everybody has enjoyed them. We're going to do one more poll question now before turning it over to Kelley. So here it is. What do you think is the greatest opportunity to improve nursing education today? So we'll see how we go here and get some results. It's interesting. Obviously, that clinical judgment is still up there, very high. So it's definitely helping students develop stronger clinical judgment. And also, second is moving beyond memorization. So this kind of leads into Kelly talking about something. So thank you for this. Again, we'll do a thank you at the end, but I just wanted to let Kelly go ahead and have some time.
Kelley Larson: Sure. Definitely. So just a couple of housekeeping items real quick before I jump in to share a little bit of some of the work that we've been doing. But just real quick. So if you are new to Level Up RN and would like to get access to the educator resources, please feel free to copy that link and fill that out. And we'd be glad to get you that information. And then if we could move to the next slide. Just to share with everybody, at our next Elevate series, we are going to be doing a focus on dosage calculations. So beyond the formula, advancing medication competency across the nursing curriculum, and that will be in August. Please feel free to visit our website to register, and we will be sending out some information about that. And then if we go to the next slide, I'm going to share some information today about Flashables. But if you're interested in learning more, on Tuesdays, we offer walk-through sessions. So if you want to come and learn more about the product or how to use it, how to use those free educator resources, feel free to register for those sessions.
Kelley Larson: And so with that, Patrick, if you don't mind, I'm going to go ahead and take over the screen share real quick and just jump in and share a little bit about something that we've been working on that we're anticipating will be launched in.
