Reflective Journaling by Second-Year Dental Students During a Clinical Rotation

Area of Science:

• Dental Education
• Medical Education
• Reflective Practice

Background:

• Reflection is crucial for identifying learning needs and improving future clinical performance.
• Guided reflection templates can enhance students' ability to critically analyze experiences.
• Assessing reflective writing is key to understanding student learning in clinical settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate second-year dental students' written reflection skills during a periodontics clinical rotation.
• To determine the extent of reflective and critical reflection in student journals using a standardized rubric.
• To compare reflection levels between initial and subsequent journal entries.

Main Methods:

• 76 second-year dental students completed two reflective writing exercises during a clinical rotation.
• 144 journals were analyzed using Kember's rubric, categorizing reflection into Habitual Action, Understanding, Reflection, and Critical Reflection.
• Two evaluators assessed journals, and initial submissions were compared to later ones.

Main Results:

• Journals averaged 83.9% reflective thoughts (73.8% Reflection, 10.1% Critical Reflection) and 16.1% non-reflective thoughts (0.2% Habitual Action, 15.9% Understanding).
• Initial journals showed higher overall reflection (85.2%) than later journals (82.7%).
• Later journals demonstrated a higher percentage of critical reflection (11.3%) compared to initial journals (9.3%).

Conclusions:

• Second-year dental students exhibit a significant capacity for reflective thought during clinical rotations.
• Reflective journaling, facilitated by guided templates, is a valuable tool for promoting continuous learning in dental training.
• The study suggests that reflective practice effectively enhances student self-assessment and skill development in clinical dentistry.