Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 16, 2026

Project-Based Learning Guidelines for Health Sciences Students: An Analysis with Data Mining and Qualitative Techniques
Published on: December 9, 2022
Physiotherapy students find guided journals useful to develop reflective thinking and practice during their first
Maria Constantinou1, Suzanne S Kuys
1School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science, Griffith University, Gold Coast campus, Australia. m.constantinou@griffith.edu.au
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 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.
Related Concept Videos
Critical Thinking II
Patient-centered Care
Chest Physiotherapy
Purpose
CPT is primarily used for patients with excessive bronchial secretions who have difficulty clearing...
Critical Thinking I
Techniques of therapeutic communication I: Active Listening, Sharing Observations, Validation, and Using Touch
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction. Social interaction has no goal or purpose and consists of casual information sharing, whereas therapeutic communication has a plan or purpose for the conversation. Therapeutic...
Introspection
