Documenting student engagement using an intention/reflection exercise during an advanced pharmacy practice experience

Abstract

The article shares the outcomes of a practice called Intention/Reflection (I/R) when applied to a group of ten students in a five-week course involving an international advanced pharmacy practice experience. Developed by the authors and founded on a combination of theoretical principles, this practice is unique because of the blend of formative and summative activities. I/R activities account for learning goals established by the instructor but also promote the mindful creation of a student’s own personal set of learning outcomes. In this practice, prior to any learning experience (which could be as long as a semester or as short as a single class session), students respond to questions that help them identify their individual learning goals and how this knowledge gain will help them. A similar set of questions at the end of the experience is meant to help the student understand the effect of the experience, and connect the students’ intention with their learning outcomes. The results show two benefits from the learning process. First the students are able to monitor their own learning and track what they want to learn as well as how they learned it. Second, the practice appears to help students identify new distinct personal learning outcomes and a way to achieve them.