No Cover Image

Journal article 71 views 6 downloads

Is reflective writing a valid summative assessment in the era of GenAI? A scoping review

EMMA FURZER, Phil Newton Orcid Logo

Medical Teacher, Pages: 1 - 14

Swansea University Authors: EMMA FURZER, Phil Newton Orcid Logo

  • 71863.VOR.pdf

    PDF | Version of Record

    © 2026 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License.

    Download (1.48MB)

Check full text

DOI (Published version): 10.1080/0142159x.2026.2658172

Abstract

Introduction: Reflective practice is central to medical education at all levels and is commonly assessed using asynchronous written reflections. The emergence of new generative artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT has led to concern that they may be used to generate written reflections and...

Full description

Published in: Medical Teacher
ISSN: 0142-159X 1466-187X
Published: Informa UK Limited 2026
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71863
first_indexed 2026-05-07T12:55:21Z
last_indexed 2026-05-19T11:18:27Z
id cronfa71863
recordtype SURis
fullrecord <?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2026-05-18T15:30:26.2811230</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>71863</id><entry>2026-05-07</entry><title>Is reflective writing a valid summative assessment in the era of GenAI? A scoping review</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>5be47da635360ed77f92370f8a26b573</sid><firstname>EMMA</firstname><surname>FURZER</surname><name>EMMA FURZER</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author><author><sid>6e0a363d04c407371184d82f7a5bddc8</sid><ORCID>0000-0002-5272-7979</ORCID><firstname>Phil</firstname><surname>Newton</surname><name>Phil Newton</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2026-05-07</date><abstract>Introduction: Reflective practice is central to medical education at all levels and is commonly assessed using asynchronous written reflections. The emergence of new generative artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT has led to concern that they may be used to generate written reflections and so to bypass the reflective process, potentially undermining the value of written reflections as a summative assessment. This scoping review asked whether written reflections remain a valid summative assessment in the age of GenAI by identifying papers which examined the ability of GenAI to write reflectively, the detection of such writing, and the use of GenAI for reflection by health professionals. Methods: A scoping review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA-ScR guidelines using. Medline, CINAHL, Education Research Complete and Google Scholar. Data were charted and the descriptive content thematically analysed. Results: Eighteen publications were included. We find that free GenAI chatbots such as ChatGPT can write reflections to a high academic standard, and these are difficult to detect either by humans or software. We also find that health professionals and students are using GenAI for this purpose, but also that GenAI might be used to support and enhance the reflective process through scaffolding, acting as a conversational partner and assisting in the redesigning of assessments. Discussion: The findings suggest that asynchronous written reflection is vulnerable as a summative assessment in the presence of GenAI. Future research should seek to answer the question as to how the validity of reflective writing as a summative assessment can be maintained in a world where GenAI use continues to grow.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>Medical Teacher</journal><volume>0</volume><journalNumber/><paginationStart>1</paginationStart><paginationEnd>14</paginationEnd><publisher>Informa UK Limited</publisher><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint>0142-159X</issnPrint><issnElectronic>1466-187X</issnElectronic><keywords>Reflective practice, ChatGPT, assessment, GenAI, health professions education</keywords><publishedDay>13</publishedDay><publishedMonth>5</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2026</publishedYear><publishedDate>2026-05-13</publishedDate><doi>10.1080/0142159x.2026.2658172</doi><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm>SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal)</apcterm><funders>Swansea University</funders><projectreference/><lastEdited>2026-05-18T15:30:26.2811230</lastEdited><Created>2026-05-07T13:49:23.9151527</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences</level><level id="2">Swansea University Medical School - Medicine</level></path><authors><author><firstname>EMMA</firstname><surname>FURZER</surname><order>1</order></author><author><firstname>Phil</firstname><surname>Newton</surname><orcid>0000-0002-5272-7979</orcid><order>2</order></author></authors><documents><document><filename>71863__36779__81ae923313f44ec5a36e9175edb7b67d.pdf</filename><originalFilename>71863.VOR.pdf</originalFilename><uploaded>2026-05-18T14:09:55.6244939</uploaded><type>Output</type><contentLength>1556596</contentLength><contentType>application/pdf</contentType><version>Version of Record</version><cronfaStatus>true</cronfaStatus><documentNotes>&#xA9; 2026 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License.</documentNotes><copyrightCorrect>true</copyrightCorrect><language>eng</language><licence>http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/</licence></document></documents><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling 2026-05-18T15:30:26.2811230 v2 71863 2026-05-07 Is reflective writing a valid summative assessment in the era of GenAI? A scoping review 5be47da635360ed77f92370f8a26b573 EMMA FURZER EMMA FURZER true false 6e0a363d04c407371184d82f7a5bddc8 0000-0002-5272-7979 Phil Newton Phil Newton true false 2026-05-07 Introduction: Reflective practice is central to medical education at all levels and is commonly assessed using asynchronous written reflections. The emergence of new generative artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT has led to concern that they may be used to generate written reflections and so to bypass the reflective process, potentially undermining the value of written reflections as a summative assessment. This scoping review asked whether written reflections remain a valid summative assessment in the age of GenAI by identifying papers which examined the ability of GenAI to write reflectively, the detection of such writing, and the use of GenAI for reflection by health professionals. Methods: A scoping review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA-ScR guidelines using. Medline, CINAHL, Education Research Complete and Google Scholar. Data were charted and the descriptive content thematically analysed. Results: Eighteen publications were included. We find that free GenAI chatbots such as ChatGPT can write reflections to a high academic standard, and these are difficult to detect either by humans or software. We also find that health professionals and students are using GenAI for this purpose, but also that GenAI might be used to support and enhance the reflective process through scaffolding, acting as a conversational partner and assisting in the redesigning of assessments. Discussion: The findings suggest that asynchronous written reflection is vulnerable as a summative assessment in the presence of GenAI. Future research should seek to answer the question as to how the validity of reflective writing as a summative assessment can be maintained in a world where GenAI use continues to grow. Journal Article Medical Teacher 0 1 14 Informa UK Limited 0142-159X 1466-187X Reflective practice, ChatGPT, assessment, GenAI, health professions education 13 5 2026 2026-05-13 10.1080/0142159x.2026.2658172 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) Swansea University 2026-05-18T15:30:26.2811230 2026-05-07T13:49:23.9151527 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Swansea University Medical School - Medicine EMMA FURZER 1 Phil Newton 0000-0002-5272-7979 2 71863__36779__81ae923313f44ec5a36e9175edb7b67d.pdf 71863.VOR.pdf 2026-05-18T14:09:55.6244939 Output 1556596 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2026 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
title Is reflective writing a valid summative assessment in the era of GenAI? A scoping review
spellingShingle Is reflective writing a valid summative assessment in the era of GenAI? A scoping review
EMMA FURZER
Phil Newton
title_short Is reflective writing a valid summative assessment in the era of GenAI? A scoping review
title_full Is reflective writing a valid summative assessment in the era of GenAI? A scoping review
title_fullStr Is reflective writing a valid summative assessment in the era of GenAI? A scoping review
title_full_unstemmed Is reflective writing a valid summative assessment in the era of GenAI? A scoping review
title_sort Is reflective writing a valid summative assessment in the era of GenAI? A scoping review
author_id_str_mv 5be47da635360ed77f92370f8a26b573
6e0a363d04c407371184d82f7a5bddc8
author_id_fullname_str_mv 5be47da635360ed77f92370f8a26b573_***_EMMA FURZER
6e0a363d04c407371184d82f7a5bddc8_***_Phil Newton
author EMMA FURZER
Phil Newton
author2 EMMA FURZER
Phil Newton
format Journal article
container_title Medical Teacher
container_volume 0
container_start_page 1
publishDate 2026
institution Swansea University
issn 0142-159X
1466-187X
doi_str_mv 10.1080/0142159x.2026.2658172
publisher Informa UK Limited
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str Swansea University Medical School - Medicine{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Swansea University Medical School - Medicine
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Introduction: Reflective practice is central to medical education at all levels and is commonly assessed using asynchronous written reflections. The emergence of new generative artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT has led to concern that they may be used to generate written reflections and so to bypass the reflective process, potentially undermining the value of written reflections as a summative assessment. This scoping review asked whether written reflections remain a valid summative assessment in the age of GenAI by identifying papers which examined the ability of GenAI to write reflectively, the detection of such writing, and the use of GenAI for reflection by health professionals. Methods: A scoping review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA-ScR guidelines using. Medline, CINAHL, Education Research Complete and Google Scholar. Data were charted and the descriptive content thematically analysed. Results: Eighteen publications were included. We find that free GenAI chatbots such as ChatGPT can write reflections to a high academic standard, and these are difficult to detect either by humans or software. We also find that health professionals and students are using GenAI for this purpose, but also that GenAI might be used to support and enhance the reflective process through scaffolding, acting as a conversational partner and assisting in the redesigning of assessments. Discussion: The findings suggest that asynchronous written reflection is vulnerable as a summative assessment in the presence of GenAI. Future research should seek to answer the question as to how the validity of reflective writing as a summative assessment can be maintained in a world where GenAI use continues to grow.
published_date 2026-05-13T17:20:34Z
_version_ 1866630991110471680
score 11.106612

Similar Items