Pharmacy students’ utilization of an online tool for immediate formative feedback on reflective writing tasks

Abstract

Objective. To assess pharmacy students’ perceptions of the benefits and utility of a novel online reflective-writing tool. Methods. After completing a required Academic Writing Analytics (AWA) workshop, Master of Pharmacy students submitted a reflective writing assignment in the AWA web application. A six-item survey was administered to students prior to and immediately after using AWA. Results. Sixty students volunteered to participate in the study; however, only 39 students provided a pseudonym that allowed their pretest and posttest to be matched. A comparison of students’ responses on the pretest with those on the posttest, which was administered four weeks after the workshop, suggest a noticeable increase in agreement with AWA’s benefits as an effective, online tool for improving their reflective learning skills. Conclusion. This novel online tool has the potential to assist pharmacy students with self-critiquing and improving their reflective writing assignments prior to submission. Furthermore, as the elements of reflection are transferable, this tool has the potential to be used in other educational contexts.