Healthcare students' experiences of writing at university: negotiating theory, practice and identity formation

Relating theory to practice is a key requirement of many Health and Social Care (HSC) programmes at university, Academic Reflective Writing (ARW) has become a common type of assessment within HSC disciplines (Bowman & Addyman, 2014b). This hybrid style of academic writing combines elements of third person reference to theory with more reflective first-person observations on professional practice–a genre that often presents challenges for student writers (Gimenez, 2008). This study focuses on six HSC students from different subjects, at varying stages of their undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. The project adopts a phenomenological approach analysing data collected from online survey, in-depth semi-structured interviews, and writing samples. It explores participating students’ perceptions of the theory-practice relationship; the impact of intersecting personal professional and academic identities on writing and varying practices relating to first person and third person pronoun-use in hybrid-style essays. Findings point to underlying epistemological complexities in subjects that draw from both the sciences and more personal ways of knowing and the resulting uncertainties for students who are required to link theory and practice in their assessment. Results also reveal the important part played by a developing sense of professional identity and the way in which increased clinical knowledge and experience positively affects students’ sense of academic voice. Finally, analysis of student writing demonstrates a considerable diversity of practice in the use of ‘I’ in hybrid assignments and supporting interview data indicates varying student attitudes towards shifting between first and third person forms. The paper concludes with a number of recommendations including the need for greater transparency in the way health-related disciplines frame knowledge and for more opportunities to discuss the practical implications this would have for student writers on Health and Social Care courses.