Research Article

Student Perceptions of Growth-Facilitating and Growth-Constraining Factors of Practice Placements: A Comparison between Japanese and United Kingdom Occupational Therapy Students

Table 2

NGT methods.

NGT methods

1st stepRecording ideas: participants concisely record each idea without debate at this pointSheet A
Participants were divided into groups of four or five students (three groups each in Japan and the UK)
Participants described own opinion using sheet A
(a) Think of three good/best things about the final placement that helped/enabled (facilitated) one’s growth in critical self-awareness
10 minutes(b) Think of three things that participant thinks did not help/hindered (constrained) one’s growth in critical self-awareness
(c) Rank each item on the two lists in order of importance—1st, 2nd, and 3rd

2nd stepRound-robin feedback and discussing ideas:Sheet B
Participants discussed in each group using sheet B
(a) Write down the “No.1” from the “good (facilitating)” list from everyone in the group
(b) Write down the “No. 1” from the “hindered (constraining)” list from everyone in the group
Proceed until all participants’ ideas have been documented
10 minutesEach recorded idea was then discussed to determine clarity and importance
All ideas of participants in a group were written down; however, if ideas overlapped, participants integrated them into one idea after discussion

3rd stepVoting on ideas: individuals vote privately to prioritize the ideasSheet B
From the two lists (facilitating and constraining things), pick out the five things that participants consider most important and rank them 1-5 in order of importance using sheet B
Write down the ranking given to each item on the two lists from everyone in the group
15 minutesIdentify the group’s most important “good (facilitating)” item from placement and most important “constraining” item from placement
The votes were tallied to identify the ideas that were rated highest by the group as a whole

4th stepEvaluation briefs: the research collaborator (RC) collects all the cards from the participants and feedbackSheet C
RC wrote down all groups’ “top three” (facilitating and constraining items) using sheet C
10 minutesWhole group reconvened. RC presented the results, including any similarities and differences
The ideas that were the most highly rated by the group were then defined as overall the most favored facilitating and constraining items