Taking the Classroom out on Wheels: Community Ties Bike Ride

A new teaching approach was designed for the nursing student clinical curriculum to demonstrate the importance of organized community health efforts with government and private organization involvement.  To engage students in active learning, a ten mile bike ride was developed, to integrate course objectives with interactions and experiences outside of the classroom.  As health care costs continue to rise, non-traditional health care assets such as parks and trails, cultural amenities, social gathering locations and smart growth policies are being revisited in a new light.  The bike ride experiential learning technique was integrated into the community clinical to highlight how the built environment has an effect on health.  The core public health functions of assessment, policy development, and assurance were highlighted at seven discussion stops along the way.

The “on-the-trail” experience provided students with real life examples and the need for multidisciplinary approaches to address the health of a community.  Students developed an appreciation of the importance of community health planning throughout the ride and in dialog with invited community experts from the local city planning office, health department, and regional planning commission.  During the seven stops students recognized and analyzed how land use development, community design, and transportation systems affect the health and quality of life in a community. This moving class room activity was highly evaluated by students and was not only fun but provided physical activity and burned calories. The experience helped demonstrate the important role students can have in the future health of their community.