The objective of this qualitative study is to describe the learning strategies noted by 31 students during a group tutorial activity in nursing and to identify those strategies associated with information processing either at a deep level or at the surface. The students’ curriculum involves problem-based learning and the data was collected through interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire. The results show that the students provide few descriptions regarding their activity during group work, that they identify those strategies associated with information processing at the surface level rather than those at the deep level, and that many evaluate their performance negatively.