Using active learning in lecture: best of "both worlds".

Many creative teaching strategies have been developed in recent years in nursing and other fields to promote active learning. These strategies foster development of problem solving, critical thinking, and communication skills, and they encourage students to work collaboratively with peers. However, in nurse educators' rush to embrace active learning, lecture has been viewed negatively by some faculty. Rather than positioning active learning against lecture, another approach is to integrate active learning within lecture, gaining the benefits of both methods. An integrated approach also takes into consideration the situation of teaching large groups of students. This article examines benefits of an integrated approach to teaching and presents strategies for active learning intended for use with lecture.