Clinical Instruction for Professional Practice

Abstract

Objective: To present the principles of adult learning and mentoring to help clinical instructors better educate athletic training students (ATSs) during their clinical experiences, with the end result being a better prepared, competent entry-level practitioner. Background: The principles of adult learning must be applied to ATS clinical education in order to develop more task mature and knowledgeable entry-level practitioners. Because clinical instructors are typically educated as clinicians rather than educators, they are generally not well-versed in the principles of adult learning, and generally do not spend a great deal of time designing learning experiences, appropriate supervision techniques, or mentoring strategies within the students' clinical experiences. Description: Concepts of adult learning, such as task maturity, self-concept, and self-directed learning, are keys to the development of competent practitioners. As espoused by Knowles, the Dreyfus five stage model of skill acquisition supports the concepts of adult learning and is easily applied to clinical education of the ATS. Modifications of this model and other adult learning models place students along a learning continuum where their progress can be enhanced or delayed depending on the instructional strategies employed by their clinical instructor (CI). Clinical Advantages: If instructional strategies are changed to correctly match the learner's progression, the learner will continue to move toward becoming a competent entry-level practitioner. These instructional adjustments will also allow the student to become more competent and self-confident in his or her clinical and decision-making skills.

Validation of the Quantitative Diagnostic Thinking Inventory for Athletic Training: A Pilot Study

“…The alterations of specific questions can be found in the Figure. The alterations did not adjust the ratio of questions used to measure flexibility in thinking (21) and memory structure (20). Additionally, through the suggestion of Bordage during e-mail communication, the authors provided an introductory scenario to be used with the DTI-AT providing a reference point for the participants to more specifically answer the questions (see the Figure).…”

“…18,19 Due to this relative lack of valid measuring instruments, it has been difficult to effectively or critically evaluate the many pedagogies suggested for developing expert clinical reasoning. 20 In order to determine an individual's cognitive process when making a clinical decision, Bordage et al 17 developed and validated the Diagnostic Thinking Inventory (DTI) for general medicine students and practitioners. This tool contains 41 items using a Likert-type scale which rates each answer as being more indicative of HDR or CPR.…”