Method Conclusion References

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social networks and clinical practice Edit Profile

Summary Clinical practice is a challenging component of physiotherapy education. Communities of practice provide a framework for
facilitating clinical reasoning among professionals. Social networks have characteristics that make them potentially useful platforms for
developing practice knowledge among undergraduate physiotherapy students.
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Background Edit Method See All

Thornquist2001a;HiggsRichardsonDahlgren2004 The study was conducted in a physiotherapy department in the Western Cape
Developing practice knowledge within the context of clinical education is challenging because the student must learn to review problems in an enterprise of active interpretation, using during 2010, among all undergraduate physiotherapy students (n=109). Each
tacit knowledge in a context of meaning that is often intuitive and hidden
class was given an assignment to be completed within the social network,
Keywords Schon1987;Clouder2000
which dealt with an aspect of clinical practice associated with clinical or ethical
Community of practice, Clinical reasoning Reflection has been highlighted as an important, yet barely recognised component of clinical education, and integrating it into the formal curriculum is challenging x
Ethical reasoning, Reflection, Social networks reasoning strategies. Prior to completing the assignment, each class was
Jacques1991;Mason1998;Hanko1999
On the other hand, practice knowledge can be developed by sharing clinical experiences in a collegial environment that develops critical and reflective thinking x surveyed to determine their knowledge and experiences using emerging online
tools, as well as their perspectives on teaching and learning practices within the
Aim See All Engestrom1987;BrownCollinsDuguid1989 department. This poster highlights how features of the network were used to
Learning is situated within contexts and relationships, rather than within individuals and it derives from social engagement and collaboration
facilitate collaboration and peer learning within the context of social engagement
To determine if social networks can be used to
Minocha2009 within a supportive environment, while the survey results will be presented
develop reflective discussion around ethical and Social networks have been shown to facilitate collaborative and peer-to-peer learning in online environments x
elsewhere.
clinical reasoning within a South African GarrisonAndersonArcher2000
physiotherapy department And they can also provide the social, cognitive and teacher presence within a Community of Inquiry that supports meaningful online learning, within a Community of Practice x
The project was approved by the UWC Ethics Committee, and permission was
obtained from the Head of Department. Each questionnaire was accompanied by
Members (239) an information sheet explaining the background and reason for the survey and
Results and Discussion Edit students gave written consent following an opportunity to ask questions.
Participation was voluntary, and students could withdraw at any time with no
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Students demonstrated that they were able to read and reflect on the work of others and then generate a response that was based on evidence, as well as taking into account patient rights and negative consequences. Permission was obtained from students to show their
ethical viewpoints that may have an impact on decision-making.
avatars, status updates, blog comments and reflective entries within the context
JonesGrimmerEdwards2006 like this of a research project. However, when published, the survey results and
Evidence-based practice is the process by which a clinician evaluates the quality of evidence before
applying it to patient management, taking into account the multi-factorial nature of the problem x engagement within the the network will be anonymised.

EdwardsBraunack-mayerJones2005
Ethical reasoning is required in the everyday decision-making of clinical practice, and should be integrated
within the clinical reasoning process x Conclusion See All

Social networks have the potential to facilitate reflective and supportive

discussion around ethical and clinical scenarios within the context of clinical
uwcphysio2010 practice, but whether or not this leads to enhanced reasoning strategies has yet
Students were found to provide encouragement and useful feedback to each other, as well as share additional resources as part of building a community of practice among peers. The use of
to be determined. Students did not make extensive use of the multimedia
evidence was an important component of the feedback in order to differentiate between opinion and fact.
features of the network (i.e. embedding video and images into posts) but found
value in linking to external sources.
Zimitat2007 likes this
A community of practice describes the social interactions by which novices are inducted into expert ways
of knowing, thinking and reasoning in their professional circle. x Challenges included issues with physical and epistemological access to
technology, as well as resistance to change. Finally, even though the tools for
effective facilitation of discussion were available, few facilitators made use of
them.
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Author Edit Students shared experiences highlighting some of the challenges they faced, often in distressing environments and situations, and the network provided a platform for supporting each other.

Michael Rowe References

Department of Physiotherapy TanLadyshewskyGardner2010 likes this See All
University of the Western Cape Strategies that can be used to provide support to students during clinical practice are important to develop
mrowe@uwc.ac.za entry level competence and work readiness. x See Handout