Despite the wide recognition of the importance of feedback for learning in health professions education, feedback often remains inconsistent, nonspecific, and may lack actionable guidance in clinical learning contexts. Contemporary feedback approaches advocate for dialogic, socioculturally informed interventions that can support the clinical teacher-student educational alliance. This study investigates the implementation of a co-created Feedback Toolkit in undergraduate clinical education, identifying its mechanisms for supporting productive feedback.
This multi-method qualitative study took place in a 7-week clinical clerkship of an undergraduate physiotherapy program. Fifteen dyads used a previously co-created Feedback Toolkit, which included podcasts, infographics, feedback prompts, and a Mini-CEX. Weekly audio diaries and post-rotation semi-structured interviews were collected and analyzed using template analysis.
A total of 245 audio diaries and 13 interviews were analyzed. Two themes were identified: “Dyadic engagement and awareness for trustworthy relationships” and “Supporting a structure for clinical teaching and learning”. Findings highlight the value of a co-created, socioculturally grounded Feedback Toolkit in promoting sustained, meaningful feedback processes. The toolkit fostered mutual engagement between the dyad by enabling early conversations, creating a safe space for dialogue, and supporting awareness of learning processes. It helped in clarifying expectations and promoting student feedback-seeking behavior. Moreover, it facilitated weekly goal-setting, the repeated use of formative assessments, and the design of collaborative action plans.
The Feedback Toolkit contributed to the normalization of feedback as a routine, relational, and purposeful practice in the clinical workplace, directly addressing the challenges of embedding effective feedback within the complexities of clinical education. The Feedback Toolkit presents a promising approach to improving feedback practices in clinical education. Future research should explore its adaptability across other disciplines and learning contexts.
The attached files include the interview guide, the weekly audio diary questions, the coding template used in the process, and the full results report.