Physiotherapy students find guided journals useful to develop reflective thinking and practice during their first clinical placement: a qualitative study

Objective This study evaluated physiotherapy students' perception of a reflective journal in developing reflective thinking and practice and identified the main concepts recorded by students in the journal. Design A mixed methods study with qualitative content analysis of student journals and quantitative analysis of questionnaire responses. Participants 131 (74 female, 57 male) physiotherapy students undergoing their first clinical placement. Interventions On completion of their placement, students submitted a reflective journal electronically and completed a questionnaire of closed and open ended questions. Main outcome measures Questionnaires were analysed using frequencies for the responses of the closed questions and thematic analysis of the open ended questions. Journals were de-indentified and underwent a content analysis using Leximancer (c) software to obtain a concept map and frequencies of the main concepts identified in the journals, with specific examples. Results The majority (88%, 79/90) of respondents found the journal useful in assisting them to learn from their experiences, and to develop reflective thinking and practice. 54% (49/90) indicated they would continue to use the journals. The most frequently identified concepts were residents, time and exercises; representing more than 5000 of the total concepts identified in the journals. Analysis of the reflective journals indicated that students demonstrated improvements in the three stages of reflective practice: awareness of thoughts and feelings, critical analysis of situation, and development of new perspectives. Conclusions Guided journal writing may be a useful tool in facilitating reflective thinking and practice during clinical placements of physiotherapy students. (C) 2012 Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.