Use of reflective writing within interprofessional education: a mixed-methods analysis

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Interprofessional Collaboration
• Reflective Practice

Background:

• Developing interprofessional collaboration skills is crucial for healthcare students.
• Assessment-For-Learning strategies, such as reflection, can foster student development.
• Interprofessional education (IPE) courses provide a platform for collaborative learning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of reflective writing on student learning objectives within an IPE course.
• To explore the qualitative changes in students' understanding through reflective writing.

Main Methods:

• An exploratory mixed-methods design was employed.
• Quantitative comparison of self-assessed student learning objectives (SLOs) between 2015 (control) and 2016 (reflective writing) cohorts.
• Qualitative content analysis of initial and final reflective writings from student nurses, pharmacists, and physicians.

Main Results:

• Students who engaged in reflective writing (nurses, pharmacists) demonstrated significantly larger effect-sizes in SLOs compared to the control group (physicians).
• Initial reflective writings established a baseline, while final writings highlighted growth in understanding roles, responsibilities, and communication.
• Limited growth was noted in areas of teamwork and ethics.

Conclusions:

• Reflective writing is a valuable tool in IPE courses for enhancing self-assessed learning.
• Initial reflections anchor baseline perceptions, and final reflections document self-perceived development in interprofessional competencies.
• Further focus on teamwork and ethics within reflective practice may be beneficial.