Effectiveness of Visual Thinking Strategies in Nursing and Health Professions Education

Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) represent an innovative educational approach aimed at enhancing critical thinking, observational accuracy, and interpretative skills through structured discussion of visual materials. In nursing and health professions education, these competencies are essential for clinical reasoning, patient assessment, and effective communication. Despite increasing international recognition, VTS remains insufficiently implemented in many educational systems, including Uzbekistan, where traditional teaching methods prevail and baseline awareness is low. The aim of this review is to systematize evidence on the effectiveness of VTS in nursing and health professions education, focusing on its impact on cognitive, analytical, and communicative competencies. The analysis includes local, regional, and international studies, including experimental data on VTS implementation. Available data indicate that VTS integration leads to measurable improvements in student engagement and learning behavior. In a quasi-experimental study among nursing students, baseline familiarity was minimal; however, its application resulted in a clear shift toward active learning, increased information-seeking, and improved analytical and interpretative skills. The effectiveness of VTS is related to its ability to transform learning from passive knowledge acquisition to active inquiry and collaborative reasoning. Its impact depends on prior exposure to interactive methods, instructional design, and the role of the educator as a facilitator rather than a knowledge provider. Overall, VTS demonstrates strong potential for improving learning outcomes and supporting competency-based education.

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