Abstract Manager

Oral

OB2-3-3

no

General Call (Workshop, Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation)

Oral

Education Research

Other

no

The impact of teaching for critical reflection: A Bayesian analysis

While critical reflection supports effective practice within socially challenging situations (e.g. effectively advocating for equitable access), most professionals develop these capabilities by happenstance. Teaching for critical reflection has shown some promise in helping health professionals navigate these challenges. We aimed to examine this potential and asked: does teaching critical reflection influence what learners talk about (i.e., the content of their talk) and how they talk (i.e., whether they talk in critically reflective ways) during a subsequent learning session and debrief?

We randomized pre-clinical students (n = 75) into control and intervention conditions (8 groups each of up to 5 students). Participants completed a Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) module, followed by a SDoH discussion (control) or critically reflective dialogue (intervention). Afterwards all experienced a common learning session (homecare curriculum and debrief) as outcome assessment. Blinded coders coded transcripts for what was said (using a codebook) and how (critically reflective or not). We constructed Bayesian regression models to determine the probability of what codes and how codes in each meaningful segment of "talk."

Groups exposed to the intervention condition were more likely, in a subsequent learning experience, to talk in a critically reflective manner (0.096 [0.04, 0.15]) but we found no meaningful differences in what was said.

This study empirically demonstrated theoretical assertions that teaching critical reflection can impact learners' subsequent ways of approaching practice, toward more critically reflective views. By definition, critical reflection attends to equity and compassion. Both the results and methods of this study raise important research and education considerations.

critical reflection

teaching

equity

Undergraduate

Teaching and learning

Undergraduate

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes