Teaching of reflection in higher education:a narrative review

Background: Healthcare professional students (HCPs) are encouraged to utilise reflection during and after their study programmes as a part of their life-long learning skill and professional competencies. However, the way in which the concept of reflection is taught and its’ influence students’ capacity to reflect have not been fully explored. This narrative review aimed to explore how the concept of reflection is taught in higher education and how the teaching of reflection influences HCP students’ capacity to reflect.Methods: Articles that were published during 2014-2024 within three databases, PubMed, CINAHL and ERIC were searched. 1929 articles were eligible for screening. 93 articles were further assessed for eligibility.Results: 18 articles were included. The included articles were geographically well-distributed in both the Global North and Global South countries, indicating universal interest in the topic. Eight articles had qualitative study designs; six had quantitative designs and four had mixed-method designs.Conceptually, the teaching of reflection could be categorised as a spectrum, ranging from: i) structured format (reflective templates or debriefing); ii) semi-structured format (physical/virtual small group discussions, video recordings, AI generative arts, in-verse reflection and concept mapping) and iii) flexible and creative (art-based pedagogy or narratives).All included articles indicated students actual and perceived better understanding of reflection. This claim is supported both quantitatively and qualitatively via either validated instruments or narratives and themes based on students’ textual outputs.Conclusions: This review identified several teaching methods that help facilitating students’ capacity to reflect. Findings are unable to recommend the most efficient way to teach reflection since it depends on students’ progress in their programmes. However, a more relational approach to teaching of reflection is recommended. Students might begin their reflective journey with a structured format of teaching of reflection then gradually move to less-rigid format of the teaching to empower students’ autonomy

Enhance nursing students’ reflection through Padlet:an action research

Background: Reflective practice (RP) is encouraged amongst healthcare students, including nursing students. However, students do not have a ‘safe space’ to practice reflection before being assessed. Padlet is an interactive platform that can potentially facilitate students’ reflection via its features that enables anonymous participation, asynchronous participation and collaborative learning environment. This study aims to explore the influence of current reflection teaching method on students’ RP and how Padlet can facilitate students’ RP.Methods: An action research was undertaken with 22 first year nursing students from Feb to May 2023. Participants answered questions anonymously pre-class and post-class in two Padlet boards. The researcher gave constructive feedback and signposted good examples of reflection to participants thus enabling ‘champion’ students to emerge during the process. Anonymous texts from two Padlet boards were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis technique.Results: Three themes were generated: i) Pre-class variable baseline understanding of reflection; ii) Co-constructed reflection and iii) Tools and triggers for reflection. Students joined the study with different presumptions and understanding of reflection, ranging from descriptive understanding of the concept, a total misunderstanding of the concept and in-depth understanding of reflection. They all indicated a changed understanding of reflection post-class and emphasized the benefits of a socially constructed learning process. Participants suggested the use of reflective tools (via reflective models) and triggers (via probing questions and feedback) as useful to facilitate their reflection.Conclusions: This study indicates that the current teaching materials enable students to enhance their understanding of reflection. Nevertheless, students could potentially benefit from tools and triggers that will initiate and support their reflection. To that end, Padlet proves a promising tool to enhance students’ reflection via its function to enable anonymity, asynchronous participation and socially constructed learning environment

Relieving total pain in an adolescent:a case report

Background: Total pain is a concept that approaches pain holistically: physically, psychologically, socially, and spiritually. Any individual may experience pain in each domain at a different level. This is the case report of an adolescent who suffered from total pain and how his healthcare team and peers helped to relieve it.Case presentation: A 15-years-old Thai male was diagnosed with recurrent T-cell lymphoma and readmitted to hospital. He was admitted to an adult ward and suffered from pain due to his disease and from the fear of being alienated. As a result, he had an existential crisis. His parents felt unsure whether they or the patient should make the medical decisions and advance care plan.Conclusions: This case report emphasises the importance of total pain assessment in the relief of total pain in an adolescent whose needs are different from both children and adults. It also highlights the role of medical decision-making in adolescents and the importance of the social support of peers in the alleviation of pain.</p

Extended data for Teaching of reflection in higher education: a narrative review

A table listing 18 articles used in a narrative review aimed at exploring how the concept of reflection is taught in higher education and how the teaching of reflection influences Healthcare Profession students' capacity to reflect. The articles were published during 2014-2024 within three databases, PubMed, CINAHL and ERIC. They are geographically well-distributed in both the Global North and Global South countries, indicating universal interest in the topic. Any third-party material included in this table is not covered by the table’s Creative Commons licence. Details of the copyright ownership and permitted use of third-party material is given in the document titled Article List Copyright Permissions. If you would like to reuse any third-party material not covered by the table’s Creative Commons licence, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright owner. Version

Structured questions pre-class and post-class

Structured questions for pre-class and post-class Padlet boards. The questions relate to a study which aims to explore pre-registration nursing students' capability to demonstrate their reflective writing

Extended data for Teaching of reflection in higher education: a narrative review

A table listing 18 articles used in a narrative review aimed at exploring how the concept of reflection is taught in higher education and how the teaching of reflection influences Healthcare Profession students' capacity to reflect. The articles were published during 2014-2024 within three databases, PubMed, CINAHL and ERIC. They are geographically well-distributed in both the Global North and Global South countries, indicating universal interest in the topic. Any third-party material included in this table is not covered by the table’s Creative Commons licence. Details of the copyright ownership and permitted use of third-party material is given in the document titled Article List Copyright Permissions. If you would like to reuse any third-party material not covered by the table’s Creative Commons licence, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright owner. Version