Undergraduate Students' Perspectives on Death Management Policy: A Secondary Data Analysis of Classroom Learning Traces

Abstract

As Thailand transitions into an aged society with deaths exceeding births since 2021, death management policy has become an urgent public issue. Yet the perspectives of younger generations on this topic remain largely underrepresented in policy discourse. This article aims to: (1) examine the characteristics of learning processes and group work in designing death management policy proposals; (2) analyze the main issues and components of death management policy proposals from undergraduate students’ perspectives; and (3) analyze students’ perspectives toward death as reflected through their policy proposals. Using qualitative secondary data analysis (QSDA), we analyzed death management policy proposals produced by 20 student groups comprising 160 students in a Population and Development course during Semester 2 of Academic Year 2023. These proposals were generated through flipped classroom and collaborative learning activities. Data were analyzed using deductive-inductive content analysis and thematic analysis guided by the Policy Triangle Framework. The findings revealed three main points. First, student groups composed of members from multiple faculties and mixed-year levels proposed more diverse and comprehensive policies than homogeneous groups. Students strategically used humor in classroom presentations to reduce tension around death discussions. Second, students proposed policies covering three phases: before death, dying, and after death. These proposals encompassed all four dimensions of the Policy Triangle Framework, including context, content, process, and actors. Third, students’ perspectives on death reflected three transformations: acceptance of death as a public issue open for discussion, awareness of inequality in accessing dignified death, and a challenge to existing power structures in society that control death. This study demonstrates that qualitative secondary data analysis of learning activities is an appropriate approach for studying socially sensitive topics. This method enables access to authentic perspectives from young adults and may reduce social desirability bias, while also providing opportunities for the younger generation to participate in end-of-life policy development aligned with Thailand’s demographic transition context.