An Action Research Approach to Clinical Skills Education Development : Using Reflective Writing to Promote the Transformation of Students’ Skill Acquisition toward the Way of Better-Best-Practice

This project is a three-year clinical skills education development project, in which teachers from the fields of philosophy and medicine collectively took part. This project focuses on the development of pedagogical pattern and pedagogical practice of “blending reflective writing into clinical skills instruction”. The involvement of action research will transform the participants of this project into the Reflective Practitioner. In practice, the participants of this project will start from self-reflection of the experience of clinical instruction, and discover the thought behind action. In the exploration of philosophy of technology, they will discover the aspect of embodiment of skill. And then they will based upon embodied technology and skill acquisition theory to design structural reflective writing to assisting students to move toward the learning pattern of advanced skills and improving the quality of clinical skills. The involvement of action research will not only empower members to actively take part in the development and pedagogical practice of “blending reflective writing into clinical skills instruction”, but adopt a more effective method to conduct self- monitoring, diagnosis, execution, and supervision. What is more important is that the members of this development group will develop explanatory understanding on their action of pedagogical development, and, based upon their own experience on pedagogical development, develop training courses for other medicine's clinical skills educators. This action will establish pedagogical profession and self-value for teachers, and boost a fundamental change inwards.