SECOND YEAR STUDENTS’ OPINION ON THEIR PERFORMANCE IN A COMPULSORY GROUP PROJECT

Introduction:
The distribution of ECTS credits within any subject typically includes three major blocks: theory, practical and projects or seminars. Such three blocks, normally, are took into account in order of assessing the performance in any subject. In most of the compulsory subjects of the Degree in Physiotherapy at University of Vigo, the completion of a group or individual project is necessary to pass, however the model of such project could vary based upon each subject.

Objective:
To analyse second year physiotherapy students’ opinion on their performance in a compulsory group project of the subject “General Physiotherapy” at University of Vigo.

Method:
Cross-sectional descriptive study. The questionnaire on group projects assessment by Bourner et al. (2001) was used. The study has been carried out at the end of the first semester of the academic course 2014-2015, and 54 second year physiotherapy students’ of the subject “General Physiotherapy” have participated in it (85.71% of the enrolled).

Results:
Some results drawn our attention. In relation to general impressions on the project, the higher scores indicate it was an easy experience. In relation to how they felt at the beginning of the project, most students highlighted the relative unfamiliarity with the theme, but regarding how they felt at the end of the project, most students felt knowledgeable in the subject, high self-confidents or highly skilled. Additionally, 92.6% of the participants indicated that group members worked well or very well as a team, 22.2% of them indicated their group had a leadership and 5.6% indicated they would not like to work with the same group in any other project.

Conclusions:
The second year physiotherapy students at University of Vigo seem to assess positively their performance in the project included in the subject “General Physiotherapy”. However, although most of the groups seemed to had worked in good working atmosphere, few of them had punctual problems.