The evaluation of reflective learning from the nursing student's point of view: A mixed method approach

Background: Adapting university programmes to European Higher Education Area criteria has required substantial changes in curricula and teaching methodologies. Reflective learning (RL) has attracted growing interest and occupies an important place in the scientific literature on theoretical and methodological aspects of university instruction. However, fewer studies have focused on evaluating the RL methodology from the point of view of nursing students. Objectives: To assess nursing students' perceptions of the usefulness and challenges of RL methodology. Design: Mixed method design, using a cross-sectional questionnaire and focus group discussion. Methods: The research was conducted via self-reported reflective learning questionnaire complemented by focus group discussion. Results: Students provided a positive overall evaluation of RL, highlighting the method's capacity to help them better understand themselves, engage in self-reflection about the learning process, optimize their strengths and discover additional training needs, along with searching for continuous improvement. Nonetheless, RL does not help them as much to plan their learning or identify areas of weakness or needed improvement in knowledge, skills and attitudes. Among the difficulties or challenges, students reported low motivation and lack of familiarity with this type of learning, along with concerns about the privacy of their reflective journals and about the grading criteria. Conclusions: In general, students evaluated RL positively. The results suggest areas of needed improvement related to unfamiliarity with the methodology, ethical aspects of developing a reflective journal and the need for clear evaluation criteria. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.