This full research paper provides insight into the struggles of learning programming and offers guidance on how educators can apply effective interventions to support students in their learning journey. Reflective thinking is highly regarded across various fields such as education, psychology, nursing, and medical education research. However, Reflective thinking is often forgotten in introductory programming courses and rarely covered in computer science education literature. This leaves a gap in understanding how students utilise reflective thinking in introductory programming courses. Research in introductory courses is still gaining academics' interest due to the high failure rates and students' struggles in learning programming. Research in programming courses requires learning theory to address students' common difficulties. This study used reflective thinking theory, which often streamlines as a reflection assignment in programming courses, to assist students in problem-solving. Therefore, this study aims to uncover students' reflective thinking and how they utilise it to solve problems. This study employed a qualitative approach, combining data from observational notes, audio recordings, and interviews. The study was conducted in a controlled laboratory setting with one-on-one interaction between the researcher and the participant. Using this qualitative approach, thematic analysis was employed to explore participants' learning processes. The emerging themes were then compared with three theories: reflective thinking, reflective learning, and problem-solving theory. Thematic analysis on observation and interview data showed five themes emerged for phases of twelve participants in learning programming. Findings support two types of overlapping problem-solving, self-based and task-based. Both problem-solving requires different support. Self-based problem-solving requires reflective thinking, meanwhile task-based problem-solving requires decomposition skills. This study contributes to understanding participants' learning phases, including their struggles while learning programming. A promising phase was potentially beneficial in providing an intervention that supports learners' reflective thinking in continuing their learning process. The findings of this study suggest a promising avenue for future research in developing learning tools specifically designed to support students in improving their reflective thinking during learning programming.

Keywords: Reflective Thinking, Problem Solving, Programming courses.