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This paper provides the conduct of leading change through creative strategies that develop student learning connections between the classroom and evidence-based practice.  This paper presents the findings of a case study evaluation of how nursing students were moved to the edge of chaos through an innovative model of nursing education and taught to think nursing.  The case study explores new nursing students’ learning around thinking nursing through the patterns of knowing.  Stories of chocolate chip cookies provide the initial context for students to begin to think about their thinking and the nature of inquiry in general. Through the use of personal stories and self-reflection, students reveal to themselves and others their knowledge and the learning connections they make between the classroom and the clinical setting.  Clinical seminars are used as a forum to discuss student stories and reflect on their learning.  Faculty collectively honor the thinking skills that students develop prior to beginning their nursing coursework and expand on those thinking skills as they transition to thinking nursing within the context of evidence-based practice. Guided questions facilitate the students’ reflection of their stories. What do you think you know? What do you still need to know? How is your thinking different? Analysis of their stories suggests that students’ ability to begin thinking nursing within the context of evidence-based practice is facilitated by using the patterns of knowing.  This education model holds promise for nurse educators involved in the teaching and learning of new nursing content to improve student learning and the quality of nursing practice.