Student Self-Reflections: Connecting Competencies and Careers

By Zachary Pruitt, PhD, MHA, FACHE

My goal with writing Health Services Management: Competencies and Careers was to connect fundamental management competencies to health administration careers. And, one of the best ways I know to help students build competencies is through structured self-reflections about their present and future careers.

I’m not alone in assigning self-reflections. Health administration programs often incorporate student reflections assessments, including reflective journaling. There are many good reasons that reflections makes sense for instructors to use in courses. In my opinion, here are the top reasons why health administration instructors incorporate reflections into their assessment strategies:

1. Consolidation of learning: Reflection helps students connect newly acquired knowledge to their experiences, making the new knowledge more relevant and enduring (Van den Boom, Paas, & Van Merrienboer, 2007).

2. Personalize learning: Reflection allows students to personalize their learning to prior experiences, beliefs, and knowledge, which makes the learning more engaging and memorable, as the information becomes relevant to them (Guo, 2022).

3.  Enhance classroom discussion: At its best, self-reflection is extended to the classroom when students share their experiences with others. Engaging in reflective dialogue clarifies student understanding (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2010).

4. Meet accrediting and credentialing standards: Healthcare management education organizations, such as the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) and Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA), recognize reflection as a valuable teaching and learning approach.  

Career reflection builds career self-knowledge

While these are excellent reasons for using reflection assignments, I want to accomplish more with the reflection assignments in my courses. I want students to explicitly connect management competencies to their health administration career development. In Health Services Management: Competencies and Careers, these activities are called "Professional Development and Reflections."

By reflecting on new concepts from the textbook, students also heighten their understanding of career possibilities. For example, in Chapter 4: Leadership and Change Management, students are asked to reflect on their career vision. In addition to the leadership concepts of vision setting. This learning activity makes the leadership concept of vision setting more immediate for students AND challenges them to enhance their career self-knowledge.

While the primary goal of self-reflection is to enhance students’ competencies in the given subject matter, the assignments serve to foster students’ professional identity (Engelbertink, et al., 2021). With greater self-knowledge comes enhanced confidence in their newly acquired expertise and future career prospects (Griggs, et al., 2018).

For example, in Chapter 2: Problem-Solving and Evidence-Based Management, students apply a problem-solving approach known as “hypothesis-driven thinking.” To integrate career development concepts, students are asked to reflect on how the application of hypothesis-driven thinking could enhance their decision-making on the next career move.

I am confident that most students care about career success and professional growth. By connecting course competencies to their career development, students gain the most value skill of all – self-knowledge.

Citations

Engelbertink, M. M., Colomer, J., Woudt-Mittendorff, K. M., Alsina, Á., Kelders, S. M., Ayllón, S., & Westerhof, G. J. (2021). The reflection level and the construction of professional identity of university students. Reflective Practice, 22(1), 73-85.

Griggs, V., Holden, R., Lawless, A., & Rae, J. (2018). From reflective learning to reflective practice: Assessing transfer. Studies in Higher Education, 43(7), 1172-1183.

Guo, L. (2022). How should reflection be supported in higher education?—A meta-analysis of reflection interventions. Reflective Practice, 23(1), 118-146.

Scardamalia, M., & Bereiter, C. (2010). A brief history of knowledge building. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology/La revue canadienne de l’apprentissage et de la technologie, 36(1).

Van den Boom, G., Paas, F., & Van Merrienboer, J. J. (2007). Effects of elicited reflections combined with tutor or peer feedback on self-regulated learning and learning outcomes. Learning and Instruction, 17(5), 532-548.