Developing reflective practice and critical thinking through case-based learning

Traditional education strategies often struggle to make explicit the relationships between theory and practice. integrating Science And Practice, iSAP, is a case-based learning framework that addresses this disjunction, supporting students as they transfer theoretical knowledge into practice contexts. iSAP provides engaging learning opportunities that encourage students to apply critical thinking and theory to realistic workplace scenarios. Radiography and Radiation Therapy students at Monash University have used this approach since 2000, Today, the program makes effective use of technology and media-enhanced learning. The Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Diagnostic Radiography at SIT commenced in 2016 with an educational focus on applied learning, patient-centred care and integration of knowledge and practice. The course trialed cases from our iSAP case bank at Monash University as part of the curriculum and educators are now creating new cases derived from their own evidence-formed patient-centred clinical practice following a workshop training session on developing cases. We hypothesise the case-based framework develops student‘s critical thinking and reflective practice skills. To test our hypothesis, we conducted an anonymous survey using 17 questions on a 7-point Likert scale and also invited students to provide qualitative feedback. Results indicated that 83.9% of student surveyed (n=87) strongly to somewhat agreed that iSAP helped them develop critical thinking skills, whilst 75.9% strongly to somewhat agreed that the iSAP comparative report helped them develop reflective practice skills. Together with the qualitative feedback, these results validate the key innovation of the framework that characterises iSAP.