Using reflective journals to engage students in learning business process management concepts

Business Process Management (BPM) is an emerging discipline involving managers making a variety of decisions that have enterprise-wide impacts. The abilities to think critically and reflect on experience are capabilities required by managers in dealing with BPM-related decisions on a day-to-day basis. This paper describes the use of reflective learning journals as a way of developing reflective capabilities and engaging students in learning BPM concepts. The reflective journal entries of 102 students enrolled in a Master’s level BPM unit offered by a business school are analysed using the Leximancer qualitative data analysis software tool. Through an analysis of what students write about in their journals and how their entries are constructed, key characteristics of reflective learning journals are identified in relation to the challenges of BPM education.