Using Structured Reflection to Enhance Student Engagement and Professional Growth

/in , , , ,

Slavko Cvetek,* Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Maribor, Slovenia

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a small-scale study that aimed to identify areas of concern to students, future nurses, during their clinical practice in homes for the elderly. For this purpose, the author used a simplified version of critical incident analysis (Tripp, 1993). The study’s findings confirmed the value of structured reflection as a pedagogical tool in professional nurse education. Some potential areas of concern were identified in students’ reflective writings, such as lack of professionalism by some of the staff, and also maltreatment and neglect of care.

Keywords: medical education, nursing, self-reflection, critical thinking

Read more

The Role of SoTL in Classroom Innovation

/in , , , ,

Anne Tierney, School of Education, University of Durham, UK

Abstract

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is being promoted as an activity for teaching-focused academics in the UK. However, support for SoTL is not a priority for most institutions, and formal provision for such support may not extend beyond the postgraduate certificate in higher education that is offered for new academic staff. This paper examines the experiences of SoTL of a group of twenty-one Life Sciences academics from a range of UK universities. It explores the role that SoTL has to play in developing classroom innovation in a structured and scholarly manner, and the consequences to both teaching staff and students, if SoTL is not supported as an academic activity throughout the careers of teaching-focused academics.

Keywords: faculty development, scholarship of teaching and learning, self-reflection
Read more

The Power of Self-reflection – Travelling the Hero’s Journey

/in , , ,

Julie Willans,* Academic Learning Services Unit, CQUniversity, Australia

Abstract

A simple, self-reflective tool that has been used very effectively for well over a decade in a regional Australian pre-university preparatory program (STEPS) is the use of the metaphor of the Hero’s Journey (Vogler, 2007). STEPS teachers use this collaborative tool during term time to assist students in “normalising” their STEPS journey. In tandem with the enjoyment and satisfaction many will likely experience, students are reassured there may be degrees of apprehension and confusion as they occupy a “not so sure space” (Meyer & Land, 2005, p. 5). However, it is in this space that challenge can result in significant personal transformation.

Keywords: learning skills, student engagement, self-reflection
Read more