Developing a Tool for Assessing Students' Reflections on Their Practice

Abstract

The concepts of reflection and reflective practice, introduced by Schon, have been widely adopted in social work education where students are expected to demonstrate reflection in practice as a learning outcome. This brief paper reports on the development and testing of a tool for assessment of students' reflections on their practice following their performance in an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) adapted for social work. Phase One involved an iterative process of conceptualizing and defining dimensions of reflection; identifying practice scenarios with specific issues to be played by ‘standardized clients’; creating a set of questions for use by the rater in a reflective dialogue with the student; and creating a five-point rating scale. In Phase Two the scale was tested in a study with a five-scenario OSCE with 11 current MSW students, seven recent graduates and five experienced social workers. The study demonstrated promising reliability in the OSCE approach and scales and indicated construct validity in that it differentiated between social workers in training and experienced workers. Its potential for use in the measurement of outcomes is discussed.

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