Employing reflective practice to enhance student engagement

Student engagement is a critical factor in educational approaches commonly used in medical education. Problem-based learning, team-based learning, and case-based learning, for example, require students to actively construct their knowledge by engaging with teachers, peers, and study content. Engagement, here, encompasses students' cognitive, behavioural, and emotional involvement in a learning process.¹ Engaged students are characterised by their motivation to learn, their participation in learning activities, and their positive feelings about the learning process. Conversely, disengaged students remain detached from learning, may display disruptive behaviours, and experience negative feelings about the learning process.

As teachers strive to create learning environments where students can engage, understanding what drives them to do so becomes paramount. This is particularly significant given the challenges teachers face in managing students' engagement within a class or course and its subsequent influence on achieving learning outcomes.^2-5 While previous research has provided insight into factors impacting engagement, there remains more to learn to better equip teachers in addressing these challenges. Therefore, it is encouraging to see contributions from Otto et al⁶ and Kassab et al,⁷ included in the current issue of Medical Education, which advance understanding of student engagement and offer actionable suggestions.

Otto et al⁶ focus on students, researching their use of learning strategies. Their study reveals that students differ in their use of learning strategies during an anatomy course. Some of these strategies align well with educational methods requiring students to engage with teachers and peers to (collaboratively) construct knowledge, such as peer learning (operationalised in the study as working together with fellow students, discussing content with peers, and asking peers for advice). Other learning strategies do not align as well, such as relying on rehearsal to learn study content. Rehearsal, in the study, is a knowledge-remembering solitary activity instead of a knowledge-constructing collaborative activity. This finding contributes to understanding why teachers may encounter difficulties engaging their students despite using evidence-based approaches; any given approach may align to varying degrees with students' preferred strategies.

Kassab et al,⁷ in contrast, focus on teachers, highlighting specific interventions that teachers can employ to enhance engagement. They found that student engagement is stimulated by teachers (in this study, tutors of problem-based learning tutorial groups) who are skilled in establishing a sense of relatedness in a group, steering the learning process, and improving problem-based learning group processes. These findings can help teachers make decisions in their teaching practices by suggesting which aspects of the learning environment they should focus on.

Both studies emphasise the importance of acknowledging the heterogeneity of students. Otto et al⁶ write that ‘adaptive teaching and curricula design tailored to address students in all learning profiles will likely increase engagement more broadly’. Similarly, Kassab et al⁷ describe that ‘adjustment and flexibility in tutoring interventions may be necessary to accommodate the diverse needs and preferences of students within small group settings’. While these claims logically stem from their results and merit further exploration, caution should be exercised in interpreting them as ‘teaching according to student preferences’. Although students differ in ways that can influence learning, research shows little evidence of an association between student learning preferences and learning outcomes.⁸

So how can acknowledgement of student heterogeneity enhance student engagement in the learning process? An emphasis on this heterogeneity is likely to lead many to feel overwhelmed. It might evoke thoughts of individually tailored learning plans for every lesson for every student. Yet, a more feasible way of addressing the variability is to stress upon teachers the importance of teachers remaining engaged themselves, encouraging mindful reflection on their educational efforts. This process of intentionally examining experiences, actions, and decisions to gain insights and improve practice, is called reflective practice.⁹ Two components of reflective practice are reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action. Reflection-in-action is a deliberate process that occurs during practice to aid on-the-spot decision-making, while reflection-on-action aims to extract meaning and learn from experiences. A study among medical teachers, identified as experts in stimulating student engagement, demonstrated how they integrated these two components of reflective practice into their teaching approach.¹⁰ Firstly, during classes, they continuously observed and analysed their students' behaviour, followed by deciding on a course of action. This process enabled them to reflect on their current efforts and to adapt on the spot if needed. Secondly, outside of classes, these teachers reflected on their knowledge and beliefs about students to understand the engagement requirements of their students, thereby creating and adapting an overall approach for a course. This teaching approach highlights how reflective practice can enhance student engagement and address the heterogeneity of students.

Reflective practice allows teachers to acknowledge the contextual nature of student engagement. As indicated by Otto et al⁶ and Kassab et al,⁷ student engagement may improve when teachers consider their students and adapt their practices accordingly. Reflective practice enables teachers to transform the articles' general conclusions and implications into personalised strategies. In this sense, ensuring student engagement is not a simple matter of following a cookbook approach, where teaching the same way can be expected to always lead to the same outcome; rather, it involves dynamic adaptations based on contextual characteristics of learning environments.

In conclusion, both articles contribute to the understanding of student engagement by exploring different aspects. Otto et al⁶ highlight the importance of recognising diverse learning strategies among students, while Kassab et al⁷ emphasise the role of tutors and group dynamics in problem-based learning settings. Combined with reflective practice, these insights can help teachers adapt learning environments to meet student needs and enhance student engagement.

Jan Willem Grijpma: Writing—original draft; writing—review and editing.