Instructional practices for evidence-based practice with pre-registration allied health students: a review of recent research and developments

Abstract

The aim of this study is to update a previous review published in this journal on the effectiveness of teaching and assessment interventions for evidence based practice in health professions, and to determine the extent to which the five recommendations made from that review have been implemented. The Integrating Theory, Evidence and Action method was used to synthesise all published evidence from 2011 to 2015, which addressed instructional practices used for evidence based practice with pre-registration allied health students. Seventeen articles were found to meet the inclusion criteria, and were analysed for both their individual rigour and relationship to the five recommendations. The evidence reviewed in this study was diverse in both its geographical setting and the allied health disciplines represented. Most of the evidence used less rigorous methods, and the evidence base is generally exploratory in nature. To date, the five recommendations regarding instructional practices in this area have been implemented to varying degrees. Many current practices promote social negotiation, collaborative decision-making and collaborative learning, so the social constructivist approach is being adopted. However, the prior knowledge of students is not being assessed as a basis for scaffolding, communication of evidence based practice to varying audiences is rarely addressed and the role of clinicians in the learning of evidence based practice knowledge, skills, beliefs and attitudes remains limited.

“The more you did, the more it made sense”: Problem‐based learning to improve early evidence‐based practice in an undergraduate physiotherapy professional programme

“…To the authors' knowledge, this paper is the first to describe in the literature the employment of PBL to deliver EBP instruction in an entry‐level physiotherapy programme. This application has not been identified previously in the literature nor in a recently published systematic review in the area (Hitch & Nicola‐Richmond, ). When PBL was utilized early in a physiotherapy entry‐level programme module in this study, it was associated with significantly improved student feedback when compared with the traditional lecture‐based teaching model previously employed.…”

“…It stands to reason that in early EBP skill development, the methods of supporting social negotiation and collaboration must come from the instructional design rather than the content of the topic. Methods currently identified in the literature employed in entry‐level physiotherapy education in EBP to promote social negotiation and collaborative decision making (Hitch & Nicola‐Richmond, ) include group assignments (Gaspard & Prentice, ) and journal clubs, often strengthened by the invitation of students from other disciplines or practicing clinicians (Bozzolan et al, ). When PBL was used as the approach to EBP instruction in this study, the feedback from students highlighted the collaborative nature of the teaching environment, the inquiry and the assessment processes.…”

“…A wide variety of teaching approaches have been noted in EBP education and in developing communities of practice (Lewis, Koston, Quartley, & Adsit, ; Meats, Heneghan, Crilly, & Glasziou, ). In a recent systematic review to promote relevant and authentic learning in EBP (Hitch & Nicola‐Richmond, ), the range of strategies identified in entry‐level physiotherapy education did not explicitly use PBL. Teaching and learning strategies cited included poster presentations by students, simulated research projects (Gaspard & Prentice, ), and the application of pre‐appraised evidence to practice (Bozzolan et al, ).…”

“…This Thomas et al (2011) contend requires a comprehensive understanding of EBP: its basis, the constructivist principles that underpin it and the most effective methods for teaching and evaluating it. Further challenges inherent in translating a classroom acquired understanding of EBP into real life are well recognized (Hitch & Nicola-Richmond, 2017) and include aligning the available evidence to local contexts and dynamics in the workplace, and the individual and unique needs of patients (Harvey & Kitson, 2015). Biggs and Tang (2007) highlight that a problem-based learning (PBL) approach directly embeds research in teaching and places the students in an active role, enabling them to take responsibility for their learning.…”

“…In a recent systematic review to promote relevant and authentic learning in EBP (Hitch & Nicola-Richmond, 2017), the range of strategies identified in entry-level physiotherapy education did not explicitly use PBL. Teaching and learning strategies cited included poster presentations by students, simulated research projects (Gaspard & Prentice, 2014), and the application of pre-appraised evidence to practice (Bozzolan et al, 2014).…”