The Department of the History of Kazakhstan, housed in the Medical University of Karaganda, continues to implement and practice diverse methods of teaching and learning amongst second year medical students. We employ varied methods to equip our students with learning skills that will help them to not only succeed in the social sciences but also to embed those skills while studying medical subject matters. Certainly, today’s information era allows students everywhere to acquire the required materials to learn content independently; however, they need to learn how to construct their own knowledge by analyzing and systematizing the concepts requisite to their specialty. 

The design of this study is qualitative with the results being based on students’ experiences of the Socratic circle discussion in their philosophy course spanning fifteen weeks of their studies between January and May, 2019. The students’ responses were accumulated in the form of surveys and focus group discussions. In addition, a total of 135 students’ reflections that were submitted after each practicum class were scrutinized.  

Hence, this study aims to explore to the extent to which the engagement of students in the Socratic circle discussion influenced their deep learning. In light of this, the following research question guiding the study was set to examine the phenomenon: How has the Socratic circle as a teaching approach impacted students’ deep learning?  

The Socratic circle is a widely employed method to improve students’ critical and analytical thinking skills as well as enhance their interactions. Employing this method early in students’ tertiary education further develops their transferable skills. In particular, they learn to systematize their own thoughts and engage in constructive dialogue on diverse themes with other scholars, thus elevating their ability to question and their team working skills.  

Prior to launching this experience students need to be informed about its basic principles.  One of these is how to participate in the discussion. For instance, it is easier to argue against or criticize a person rather than to provide supportive arguments. In the Socratic circle this can happen due to students’ lack of experience and a narrow focus on the task. Students might struggle with both questioning their peers and leading them towards a clarification of their own thoughts. In such a situation, scholars suggest asking students to put themselves in the position of the speaker or to understand their situation which could provide different perspectives to a discussion of the problem (Altorf, 2019). This will enrich the interaction of peers, their sensitive engagement and promote a better understanding of life issues.  

Students can benefit by following some principles in the frame of the Socratic circle.  Researchers around the world have emphasized the diverse skills that could be nurtured from it. For instance, in a study conducted by Grebnev, et al. (2014), it was mentioned that the truth can be discovered through discussion and the subsequent elimination of contradictory thoughts. In addition, in a study conducted by Seggelen-Damen, et al. (2017) revealed that receiving the viewpoint of others regarding one’s own thoughts improves the reflective thinking of students because it cannot be developed by itself, but rather through interacting with other people. 

Hence, through an accurate employment of the Socratic circle, both students and tutors may gain advantages. Certain steps should be followed within the organization of this type of discussion as this will help to maintain its main purpose. Socratic circle aside from its prescribed steps, however, participants should consider some side-effects of this approach. These can be misunderstandings regarding the purpose of the approach by participants, their potential lack of experience, with it, and the domination of some participants. 

This is a qualitative research project that is designed to scrutinize students’ perspectives through a mixed-method. It was undertaken in 2019, between January and May, during a philosophy course. The participants who took part in the research were 9 second-year students out of 11 from the General Medicine Specialty at the Medical University of Karaganda. This cohort of students have experienced the Socratic circle in their practical classes. Their perspectives were obtained through three focus group discussions and their other experiences were obtained through three types of surveys. These surveys were oriented towards an examination of how students perceived the tasks for students’ individual work (hereinafter-SIW) in the form of project-based learning; whether students have faced some challenges during the reading tasks for student’s individual work with the teacher (hereinafter-SIWT); and finally, students’ perceptions of tasks during practical classes alongside the Socratic circle, hence, how the combination of these methods supported students’ deep learning per se. In addition, 135 students’ reflections on practical classes were analyzed. The research results were classified into three domains. First, we have provided the results of the survey and focus groups discussions regarding students’ perceptions and experiences toward activities employed alongside the Socratic circle during practical classes as well as the 135 reflections of students. Second, we have scrutinized students’ experiences in conducting research projects with their peers based on the results of their surveys and focus group interviews as well as observation of students conducting the Socratic circle discussions in the practical classes. This exercise was undertaken in the frame of SIW. Third, we have analyzed results of SIWT, students’ reflections on reading extracts from books and articles in English. Finally, we have provided a conclusion on how these experiences helped students to accumulate learning materials in depth and increased their reflective thinking throughout learning process, in other words improved their deep learning.

Firstly, the Socratic circle requires an in-depth explanation. In this study, students’ previous experience of regurgitating of the content obfuscated their understanding of the purpose of the format per se. During the first two or three classes they felt absolutely bewildered and struggled to present their points because their task was to develop a smooth conversation where all pieces of information are aligned with one another. As a result of practicing the Socratic circle, students’ have changed their attitudes towards preparation for the practical classes. They looked for “sour” information that would be interesting to present to their peers. Secondly, the Socratic circle requires a trusting and friendly environment. This allows students to feel relaxed and confident within their circles. In order to foster this kind of environment additional activities were employed. Prior to the discussion, they were all invited to play team-building games for 10 to 15 minutes. After the discussion, they were invited to build concept maps where they were asked to summarize all the points learned throughout the class. Through these activities, they developed a sense of belonging to this community and of the significance of their contribution. Thirdly, the importance of individual tasks to increase their individual capacities was also primordial to the activity. Although human beings belong to the social world, we need to keep in mind that personality and individual character play a major role in one’s success. Group work is important, but therein, an individual cannot completely express their own will due to the necessity of signaling their respect for other people. In addition, knowledge is socially constructed. This implies that the way each individual experienced this reality is important. Hence, with regard to such aspects, students completed their own reflections of practical class activities, reading materials, exercised their writing of critical papers.

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