Using blogs for critical reflection in the MPH class

Allison Stevens 2013

Why blog?

• Additional learning not afforded by other techniques

• opportunity to interact and learn from colleagues, get additional insights from lecturers

• Most students in literature say that it is useful

Literature cited in Dr Cheryl Brown and Prof Dick Ngamabi e/merge virtual conference presentation in 2012.

Learning about the Microeconomics of the

health sector

Two compulsory assignments

One compulsory seminar presentation

Blog – optional participation

Reflection

• Becoming aware of and assessing taken for granted assumptions in order to construct a more valid belief (Mezirow 1991)

• Its about the “you plus course material” (Ross 2012)

• The kind of thinking that consists of turning a subject over in the mind and giving it serious and consecutive consideration (Burnett and Lingam 2007)

Critical reflection

• Involves giving reasons for decisions or events, which takes into account the broader historical, social and/or political contexts (adapted from Hatton and Smith, 1995)

Critical reflection

• Challenge assumptions

• Contextual awareness

• Imaginative speculation

• Question universal truths or unexamined patterns of interaction

Literature cited in Dr Cheryl Brown and Prof Dick Ngamabi e/merge virtual conference presentation in 2012.

Blogging

• Online journal that users can update in their own words (Matheson 2004)

• Enables reflection

• Research suggests use of blogs positively affects depth and breadth of learning (Stiler and Phileo 2003)

Reflection in our module

• Closed blogs on Vula

• Use as learning journals

• Participation in the blog is optional

– 4 meaningful blog contributions over the …. period

– Read and comment on 2 or 3 other blogs

– Teachers will comment and prompt thinking in your blogs

Why participate?

Comments from MPH students in the U.S. who opted to use blogs:

• “….I found it a good way to discuss concepts and participate in further discussion. It also allowed the sharing of up-to-date information that would not have been possible in lecture time”

• “Learning is for ourselves, not just for marks”

Source of quotes: Williams, J.B. Jacobs, J. 2004. Exploring the use of blogs as learning spaces in the higher education sector. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology. 20(2)m 232-247

Example

• MPH student in the U.S. criticall reflects on course material in his blog: A New England Journal article recently addressed “The Asthma Epidemic.” Most of the environmental causes of the recent increase are unknown, but the authors do recommend “[a]voidance of passive and active exposure to smoke,” as smoke exposure is thought to be causally linked to asthma onset. As a pediatrician who works at a community health center with a large percentage of Dominican patients, I think this approach is ideal for many of the health problems affecting my patients. A perfect example would be obesity. An effective strategy needs to be culturally sensitive, community-motivated, collaborative, and educational.

Adapted from http://seminardemo.blogspot.com/

Global Symposium on Health Systems Research

• Supports blogging and social media intervention for emerging public health and health care professionals

• http://www.ev4gh.net/EV2012-details.html

What to blog about

• You critically reflect on what you learnt from lecture / reading / assignment [explain critical reflection] [examples ?]

– Your classmates comment on your postings – discuss concepts online - Comments from colleagues – learn from each other

– Bonus: Insights from John

– Another bonus: The student whose blog demonstrates the most critical reflection will get the opportunity to write a blog for the HEU, which we will disseminate to all our contacts

How to blog?

• Writing style does NOT have to be academic

• Personal style

• Informal

Acknowledgements Thank you to UCT’s 2012 e/merge virtual conference for prompting the attempt to blogs in the MPH class (in particular the presentation by Dr Cheryl Brown and Prof Dick Ngamabi)