Learning Partnership: Students and Faculty Learning Together to Facilitate Reflection and Higher Order Thinking in a Blended Course

Authors

  • Paige McDonald The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
  • Howard Straker The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
  • Karen Schlumpf The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
  • Margaret Plack The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v18i4.516

Keywords:

Reflection, reflective practice, higher order thinking, blended course

Abstract

This article discusses a learning partnership among faculty and students to influence reflective practice in a blended course. Faculty redesigned a traditional face-to-face (FTF) introductory physician assistant course into a blended course to promote increased reflection and higher order thinking. Early student reflective writing suggested a need for learner familiarization with levels of learning, types of reflection, and levels of reflective practice and for revision of writing prompts to encourage greater depth and breadth of reflection. This article presents results from an analysis of students’ writings prior to and after the learning intervention and revision of writing prompts. Writings from Week 1 and Week 8 of the course were analyzed for level of reflective practice, depth and breadth of reflection, and depth of higher order thinking. Results indicate an increase in level, depth, and breadth of reflection post-intervention. Results also indicate an increase in occurrences in higher order thinking post-intervention. Findings suggest that purposive course design, combined with instruction on reflection and appropriate reflective prompts, can influence breadth and depth of reflection and higher order thinking in a blended course.

References

Baepler, P., Walker, J. D., & Driessen, M. (2014). It’s not about seat time: Blending, flipping, and efficiency in active learning classrooms. Computers & Education, 78, 227-236.

Baernstein, A., Oelschlager, A. M., Chang, T. A., & Wenrich, M. D. (2009). Learning professionalism: Perspectives of preclinical medical students. Academic Medicine, 84(5), 574-581.

Bello-Haas, V., Proctor, P., & Scudds, R. (2013). Comparison of knowledge and knowledge application confidence in physical therapist students completing a traditional versus blended learning professional issues course. Journal of Physical Therapy Education, 27(1), 10-19.

Bloom B.S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: Book 1 cognitive domain. New York: Longman.

Boud, D., Keogh, R., & Walker, D. (1985). Reflection: Turning experience into learning. New York: Kogan Page/Nichols Publishing.

Carter-Brown, C. B. (2009). Building communities: The effects of offering face-to-face meetings to students studying at a distance. (Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved from Proquest.

Chen, C., & Jones, T. (2007). Blended learning vs. traditional classroom settings: Assessing effectiveness and student perceptions in an MBA accounting course. The Journal of Educators Online, 4(1), 1-15. http://eric.ed.gov

Comey, W. (2009). Blended learning and the classroom environment: A comparative analysis of students’ perception of the classroom environment across community college courses taught in traditional face-to-face, online and blended methods. (Ed.D., The George Washington University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxygw.wrlc.org/pqdtft/docview/288045934/F5BED03F694041F4PQ/1?accountid=11243

Cooner, T. S. (2010). Creating opportunities for students in large cohorts to reflect in and on practice: Lessons learnt from a formative evaluation of students' experiences of a technology-enhanced blended learning design. British Journal of Educational Technology, 41(2), 271-286.

Dannefer, E. F. (2013). Beyond assessment of learning toward assessment for learning: Educating tomorrow’s physicians. Medical Teacher, 35, 560-563. doi: 10.3109/0142159x

de Swardt, H. C., du Toit, H.,S., & Botha, A. (2012). Guided reflection as a tool to deal with the theory- practice gap in critical care nursing students. Health SA Gesondheid, 17(1), 1-9. doi:10.4102/hsag.v17i1.591

Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education: An introduction to philosophy of education. New York: Macmillan.

Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. New York: Kappa Delta Pi.

Dunfee, H., Rindflesch, A., Driscoll, M., Hollman , J., & Plack, M. M. (2008). Assessing reflection and higher order thinking in electronic discussion threads in the clinical setting. Journal of Physical Therapy Education, 22(2), 60-66.

Duque, G., Demontiero, O., Whereat, S., Gunawardene, P., Leung, O., Webster, P., . . . Sharma, A. (2013). Evaluation of a blended learning model in geriatric medicine: A successful learning experience for medical students. Australasian Journal on Ageing, 32(2), 103-109. doi:10.1111/j.1741-6612.2012.00620.x

Garrison, D. R., & Kanuka, H. (2004). Blended learning: Uncovering its transformative potential in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 7, 95-105.

Garrison, D., & Vaughan, N. (2008). Blended learning in higher education. San Francisco, CA: John Whiley & Sons.

Geçer, A., & Dag, F. (2012). A blended learning experience. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice 12(1), 438-442. http://akademikpersonel.kocaeli.edu.tr/akolburan/sci/akolburan18.10.2012_01.58.04sci.pdf

Guldberg, K., & Pilkington, R. (2007). Tutor roles in facilitating reflection on practice through online discussion. Educational Technology & Society, 10(1), 61-72.

Hsu, L. L. (2012). Qualitative assessment of a blended learning intervention in an undergraduate nursing course. Journal of Nursing Research, 20(4), 291-298. doi:10.1097/jnr.0b013e31827363bc

Illeris, K. (2003). Towards a contemporary and comprehensive theory of learning. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 22(4), 396-406.

Jensen, E. (1998). Introduction to brain-compatible learning. San Diego, Calif.: Brain Store.

Killion, J. & Todnem ,G. (1991). A process for personal theory building. Educational Leadership, 48(6), 14-16.

Kinsella, E. A. (2009). Professional knowledge and the epistemology of reflective practice. Nursing Philosophy, 11, 3-14.

Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as a source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Lotrecchiano, G.R., McDonald, P.L., Lyons, L., Long, T., & Farber M. (Jan, 2013). Blended learning: Strengths, challenges, and lessons learned in an interprofessional training program. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 17(9), 1725-1734.

Mamede, S., van Gog, T., van den Berge, K.,van Saase, J. L. C. M., & Schmidt, H. G. (2014). Why do doctors make mistakes? A study of the role of salient distracting clinical features. Academic Medicine, 89(1), 114-120. doi:10.1097/ACM.0000000000000077

Maree, C. & Van Rensburg, G. H. (2013, September). Reflective learning in higher education: Application to clinical nursing. African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance, (Supplement 1), 44-45.

McDonald, P.L. (2012). Adult learners and blended learning: A phenomenographic study of variation in adult learners' experiences of blended learning in higher education. (Ed.D., The George Washington University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.

McDonald, P.L., Straker, H.O., & Lyons, L.B. (in press). Blending for sustainability: Aligning the needs of adult learners and the needs of health sciences education. In J. K. Holtz, S. B. Springer, & C. Boden-McGrill (Eds.), Building Sustainable Futures for Adult Learners. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Means, B., Toyama, Y., Murphy, R., Bakia, M., & Jones, K. (2009). Evaluation of evidence based practices in online learning: A meta-analysis and review of online learning studies. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf

Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative dimensions of adult learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991.

Ortega-Rivas, A., Saorín, J. L., de la Torre, J., & Elsheikha. H. (2013). Touch-pad mobile devices for blended learning in immunology practicals. Medical Education, 47 (5), 518-519.

Picciano, A. G. (2007). Introduction. In A.G. Picciano & C. D. Dzuiban (Eds.), Blended

Learning Research Perspectives (pp. 5-17). Needham, MA: The Sloan Consortium.

Plack, M. M., Driscoll, M., Marquez, M., and Greenberg, L. (2010). Peer-facilitated virtual action learning: Facilitating reflection and identifying challenges on a pediatric clerkship. Academic Pediatrics, 85, 706-709.

Plack, M. M., Driscoll, M., Blissett, S., McKenna, R.M., & Plack, T.P. (2005). A method for assessing reflective journal writing. Journal of Allied Health, 34(4), 199-208.

Plack, M. M., Driscoll, M., Cuppernull, L., Marquez, M., Maring, J., & Greenberg, L. (2007). Assessing reflective writing on a pediatric clerkship by using a modified Bloom's Taxonomy. Ambulatory Pediatrics, 7, 285-291.

Plack, M. M. & Santasier, A. (2010). Reflective practice: A model for facilitating critical thinking skills within an integrative case study classroom experience. Journal of Physical Therapy Education, 18(1), 4-12.

Portney, L. G., & Watkins, M. P. (2000). Foundations of clinical research: Applications to Practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Rea, L. M., Parker, R. A. (1997). Designing and conducting survey research: A comprehensive guide (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Sánchez-Mendiola, M., Martínez-Franco, A., Rosales-Vega, A., Villamar-Chulin, J., Gatica-Lara, F., García-Durán, R., & Martínez-González, A. (2013). Development and implementation of a biomedical informatics course for medical students: Challenges of a large-scale blended-learning program. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 20(2), 381-387. doi:10.1136/amiajnl-2011-000796

Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. New York: Basic Books.

Stephens, M., & Hennefer, D. (2013). Internationalising the nursing curriculum using a community of inquiry framework and blended learning. Nurse Education in Practice, 13(3), 170-175. doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2012.08.010

Stewart, A., Inglis, G., Jardine, L., Koorts, P., & Davies, M. W. (2013). A randomised controlled trial of blended learning to improve the newborn examination skills of medical students. Archives of Disease in Childhood -- Fetal & Neonatal Edition, 98(2), F141-4. doi:10.1136/archdischild-2011-301252

Wald, H. S., Borkan, J. M., Taylor, J. S., Anthony, D., & Reis, S. P. (2012). Fostering and evaluating reflective capacity in medical education: Developing the REFLECT rubric for assessing reflective writing. Academic Medicine, 87(1), 41-50.

Downloads

Published

2014-10-20

Issue

Section

Online Learning for Healthcare Professionals