Purpose: This research compares self-leadership, team efficacy, problem solving processes and task satisfaction in response to teaching methods applied to nursing students, and determines whether variations exist. Method: This research experiments before and after the training of a nonequivalent group. The subjects were 36 learners of action learning methods and 39 learners of nursing course methods, and the research took place from October through December 2012. Results: Prior to the training, the general features and measurable variables of the two groups of subjects were similar, and self-leadership, team efficacy, problem solving process and task satisfaction in both groups were elevated compared to pre-training. In particular, in comparison with the nursing course, there was a notable difference in scores, the action learning method receiving high scores in the problem solving process (t=2.92, p=.005) and task satisfaction (t=2.54, p=.013) Conclusion: It is recommended that educators not only conduct the practice training course for teaching methods, but also incorporate action learning.