Socratic questioning to improve effective debriefing in health sciences: Students’ voice

BACKGROUND: There is an urgent need to ensure that debriefing is effectively conducted in any clinical training in the health sciences field. Although higher education institutes (HEIs) are responsible for ensuring that learning outcomes are achieved through appropriate pedagogical approaches, there are challenges to providing effective debriefing in clinical training. Literature reveals that the Socratic questioning technique is an effective approach to facilitate debriefing. However, there is a lack of studies focusing on students’ views and experiences on using Socratic questioning in debriefing in clinical training. This study aimed to explore South African health sciences students’ views and experiences on using Socratic questioning in debriefing at a public university. MATERIALS AND METHOD: The zone of proximal development model anchored this study as a theoretical lens. The authors adopted a qualitative single case study design within an interpretivist paradigm. Six participants were recruited for this study. Data were analyzed through thematic analysis. Ethical considerations were ensured in this study. RESULTS: The findings of this study revealed that students express ambivalent views and experiences on using Socratic questioning in debriefing. The participants highlighted that Socratic questioning significantly promotes their critical thinking in debriefing sessions during clinical training. However, there were participants who expressed challenges. They pointed out the increased stress when answering Socratic questions. Furthermore, they articulated that universities should provide sufficient training for academic staff who facilitate the debriefing sessions through the Socratic questioning technique. CONCLUSIONS: This study concluded the pivotal role of Socratic questioning in promoting the effective delivery of debriefing. Further studies should be conducted using diverse approaches, such as quantitative or mixed methods.