Making Curriculum Development Fun for Nurse Educator Graduate Students Through the Use of Play Pedagogy

Curriculum development is an important topic for nurse educator students to understand. The process of curriculum development requires knowledge of state laws, accrediting bodies, and various curriculum models. Students learn about curriculum development through assignments such as a scaffolded group project where they create a hypothetical undergraduate nursing program. Nurse educator students and nurse faculty view curriculum development as complicated and dull. This article describes the transformation of a curriculum development assignment using sociocultural learning theory and play. Nurse educator students appreciated the assignment and stated it helped them understand the curriculum development process.