The Effect of Reflective Activities on Reflective Thinking Ability in an Undergraduate Pharmacy Curriculum

Abstract

Objective. To determine the effectiveness of integrating reflective practice activities into a second-year undergraduate pharmacy curriculum and their impact on reflective thinking ability. Design. A cross-over design with repeated measures was employed. Newly developed reflective modules based on real hospital and community pharmacy cases were integrated into the second-year pharmacy practice curriculum. A novel strategy, the Reflective Ability Clinical Assessment (RACA), was introduced to enhance self- and peer reflection. Assessment. Student responses (n=214) to the adapted Kember et al(1) Reflective Thinking Questionnaire (RTQ) were compared before and after reflective activities were undertaken. Significant improvement in three indicators of reflective thinking was shown after students engaged in reflective activities. Conclusion. Integration of reflective activities into a pharmacy curriculum increased the reflective thinking capacity of students. Enhancing reflective thinking ability may help students make better informed decisions and clinical judgments, thus improving future practice.

Keywords: experimental crossover design; pharmacy curriculum; pharmacy teaching; reflective practice; reflective thinking.

Figure 1.

Consort diagram: Cross-over design with repeated measures

Figure 2.

A model for using vedio podcasts to enhance reflective capacity (self- and peer reflection) of pharmacy students.