The swamplands of reflection: using conversation analysis to reveal the architecture of group reflection sessions

Abstract

In 'Exchange of Experience', the overall structural organisation consisted of activity types through which a case becomes shared, reflectable, learnable and valuable. There are essential discrepancies between cognitive reflection models and the reality of the classroom. Being conscious of this overall structural organisation can be a tool for tutors of these groups to help them navigate from one activity to another or to diagnose what is not working in the group discussion.

The reflective zombie: Problematizing the conceptual framework of reflection in medical education

“…It seems neatly orderable. However, if we turn the beam into a searchlight and shine on actual educational practice, we find that reflection is often messy, unpredictable and intensely personal [5, 21]. But the reality of the classroom—the interactions between teacher and students, and students amongst themselves—is a place where researchers hardly ever look.…”

“…There are many educators who are stimulating students to reflect meaningfully, by holding group conversations [5], or by designing writing tasks that can indeed change ‘the attitudes, values, beliefs, and assumptions of individual participants’ [6]. This is the case for many higher education courses, yet we wish to strengthen these developments by critically elaborating on three flaws in current thinking about reflection in medical education (research) specifically.…”

How to…analyse qualitative data in different ways

“…Transcription varies in terms of detail: close transcription, which is required for some analytical approaches, e.g. forms of discourse analysis, 4 includes pauses, stutters, laughter, etc. Less detailed transcription is sufficient for most other methods, but dialogue must be accurately represented and line numbers used for reference (Box 1).…”

“…Each category offers interesting possibilities for the researcher. We outline some commonly used options below, 3,4,[11][12][13][14][15] and provide examples in Table 1. But before we discuss these, we must first consider an important distinction that arises when talking about approaches to analysis: the difference between 'method' and 'methodology' .…”

“…1,2 Whether the researcher chooses to conduct the study within a particular methodology, or to select a method that can be used more flexibly will depend on the research question and his or her theoretical stance. 3,4 The choice of analytical approach is usually made at the outset of the study, but there is flexibility to change the planned approach as long as consistency between theoretical stance, research question and analysis is maintained.…”