Exploring scientific writing as part of a learning model for interprofessional higher health education – A qualitative study

Abstract

This study investigated how students in interprofessional higher education experienced learning with a model including essay writing and perceived the effect on their learning outcomes. The study occurred at an institute with two interprofessional programs at a university in Norway. Students gained new knowledge or new understandings when their theoretical knowledge and clinical experiences intersected in essay form. Common themes were 1) learning benefits and learning models, 2) benefits of interprofessional collaboration, and 3) Organisations, developments, and changes in writing processes When participating in the study programme based on the developed learning model the students felt both their theoretical and practical knowledge and understanding were deepened. Essays gave students opportunities to formulate their own personal ideas, new understandings, new patterns of practice and deeper knowledge, particularly when writing in groups. Experience-based knowledge has been legitimated by the students who discovered the good interaction between theory and practice. We concluded that the model requires good virtual platforms for the groups to function optimally and that essay writing can give students in higher education the opportunity to formulate their ideas in a more personal way. The interprofessional collaboration, in essay writing, was perceived as both rewarding, challenging, but also a reflective learning process for the students.

Keywords

• Essay
• Experience-based knowledge
• Higher education
• Interprofessional collaboration
• Qualitative method