Evaluation of a Multidisciplinary Extracurricular Event Using Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background and Purpose

Although health science programs run parallel to each other and comprise of shared core subjects between the different disciplines, students of the different disciplines rarely mix or interact with each other during their undergraduate studies. Extracurricular activities are a big part of university students’ life, through which students have an opportunity to express themselves and enhance their soft skills in a safe and relaxed environment. Recently, King Saud University (KSU), Saudi Arabia, launched a multi-disciplinary event aimed at raising public’s awareness of their rights and responsibilities in the healthcare system. Although the event was designed to educate the public about their rights and responsibilities in the healthcare system, it has proven to be a good opportunity to promote interprofessional education among participating students. This study aims to review and assess the impact of this multi-disciplinary public awareness event on the acquisition of core interprofessional competencies by participating students from the health sciences using Kolb’s experiential learning theory as a framework.

Patients and Methods

This qualitative study used semi-structured Zoom interviews in Nov 2020 with health science students who participated in the event. The research team used a pre-designed topic guide based on Kolb’s experiential learning theory (KELT) for the interview questions. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, coded, and analysed using thematic analysis.

Results

Twenty-one students, representing four health science colleges at KSU participated in three focus groups. The main themes identified were participants’ attitudes towards the event, the types of knowledge and skills acquired from the event, and how they practically applied the knowledge acquired. These themes were aligned to KELT as this study’s framework.

Conclusion

The event covered the most important concepts of interprofessional education and could be a potential tool to educate students from multiple disciplines.

Keywords:

• interprofessional education
• patient rights
• patients’ responsibility
• interprofessional collaboration
• public awareness
• Kolb‘s theory

Abbreviations

COREQ, consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative studies; ESCIPE, Eastern Shore Collaborative for Interprofessional Education; IP, interprofessional; IPE, interprofessional education; KELT, Kolb’s experiential learning theory.

Data Sharing Statement

All data supporting the conclusion are included.

Ethical Approval

The study received ethical approval from the King Saud University Institutional Review Board (No. E-21-5837), and information was managed with extreme confidentiality, without any participants’ identifiers in the data-collection form.

Informed Consent

The participating students provided both written and verbal consent.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Ministry of Health Patient Safety Centre for sponsorship of the ‘Ask … Save a life’ event, as part of a collaborative agreement with King Saud University. The sponsor played no role in the data collection and analysis in this study. The current work was presented as a focused symposium at the 2019 Collaborating Across Borders VII in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, under the title ‘The Use of Inter-Professional Collaboration in Raising Awareness of Patient’s Rights and Responsibilities in the Healthcare System, King Saud University Experience’.

Disclosure

Haya M Almalag and Maha F Saja are considered first authors. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

There is no funding to report.