Reflexivity in nursing qualitative research: A problem of epistemic fluency

Abstract

In the field of learning theory, the concept of epistemic fluency describes how students mature into flexible thinkers able to recognize diverse perspectives and value systems, mobilize different bodies of knowledge and logical operations, identity strengths and limitations in their own knowledge and reasoning, and envision multiple possible solutions to complex problems. While epistemic fluency is a significant area of research in sciences, engineering, and medical education, it has received little explicit attention within nursing. This article highlights a connection between epistemic fluency and reflexivity, a far more familiar concept which is associated with qualitative research methodology and has been studied extensively in nursing. The article advances epistemic fluency as an idea which warrants more attention in doctoral-level nursing education and presents an exemplar teaching activity to illustrate application of this approach in a nursing science classroom. Calling students' attention to their own default assumptions and patterns of reasoning about how knowledge is constructed, the activity is a strategy for introducing students to some of the most complex and often elusive aspects of what it means to become a scholar.