The exploration of speech language pathology students’ perceptions and attitudes towards written clinical reflection

Purpose: Written clinical reflection is frequently used in speech-language pathology training programs to develop student clinical skills. The aim of this study was to explore speech-language pathology students’ perceptions towards written clinical reflection.

Method: Seventy-two undergraduate speech-language pathology students completed an online survey. An observational research design was undertaken. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse quantitative data. Inductive content analysis was used for qualitative data analysis.

Result: Speech-language pathology students reported that written clinical reflections are useful but also wanted to explore alternative ways to reflect. Most students used written clinical reflection to focus on self-improvement of clinical skills and a small number of students used reflection to consider stakeholders’ points of view. Students wanted more guidance and feedback on written clinical reflections.

Conclusion: The results indicate that written clinical reflection is a useful learning tool. To facilitate the development of reflection skills in speech-language pathology students, it is important to explicitly teach clinical reflection in university curricula and to receive guidance from professional practice educators.