Reflection as a Window to Student Development: Insight for Faculty, Preceptors, and Mentors

This article is the third in a series of five articles explaining the grounded theory named RESPoND: Reflection in the Education and Socialization of Practitioners: Novice Development. Participants in the grounded theory study included a cohort of audiology students, clinical faculty, and preceptors. This particular article focuses on the first of three facets that together explain the role of reflection in novice development, in the context of the RESPoND theory. This facet represents the concept of reflection as a window—for faculty, preceptor, and mentor insight—into student and novice development. The notion of reflection as a professional development approach or mechanism for learners or professional practitioners is well documented. However, there is a lack of theorization about how reflection by health professional students may present opportunities for their faculty, preceptors, and mentors to improve their educational approaches. Findings are discussed in the context of implications for audiology education. We acknowledge that these findings relate specifically to the participant cohort; however, the understanding gained from this research may nonetheless be informative to a wide audience of individuals interested in audiology education.