Abstract

This case study provides insight into the author’s use of anecdote circles as an alternative to focus groups with international postgraduate nursing students. The method was used as a means of evaluating the individual and collective perceptions that 15 students had of using LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® as a method of facilitating their capacity for reflection and critical reflexivity. This case study explores the practical issues of using anecdote circles and highlights key challenges of using the method in practice. It also provides insight into the contextual and situational background of conducting the anecdote circles and why the approach was rationalized as being the most appropriate form of evaluation with this group of students as well as why the generic transferability of anecdote circles to other disciplines and settings is a valuable adjunct to traditional qualitative research methods. As part of an overarching participatory action research methodology used for the iterative evaluation of educational impact with these postgraduate students, anecdote circles were also rationalized as a means of providing a strategic alternative to focus groups in capturing the conceptually deeper perceptions students had about using LEGO SERIOUS PLAY as a means of facilitating their capacity for reflection and critical reflexivity. Their capacities for these two concepts have the potential to facilitate and explore student capacity for affective learning around care and compassion, subjects which have been topical in light of the Francis Report and the Cavendish Review.