Changes in Perceived Self-efficacy of Physical Therapist Students Following a Pediatric Experiential Learning Opportunity

Abstract

Purpose: Physical therapists (PT) must be competent to treat patients across the lifespan, from pediatrics through geriatrics. Increasing the amount of experiential learning (EL) in pediatrics presents an opportunity for students to improve their self-efficacy in communication and patient handling. The purpose was to investigate changes in PT students' perceived self-efficacy in communication and patient handling following a structured and focused 8-week EL opportunity with a pediatric population. Methods: Thirty-two PT students completed the Pediatric Communication and Handling Self-Efficacy Scale before and after an 8-week pediatric EL opportunity. A paired-samples t test was performed to assess changes in students' self-efficacy levels of communication and patient handling. Results: Perceived self-efficacy levels significantly improved in regard to students' communication and patient handling skills following a pediatric EL opportunity. Conclusions: Our findings reinforce the benefits of incorporating pediatric EL opportunities into the DPT curriculum as an effective learning strategy in pediatric education.

The Effects of Experiential Learning on Perceived Clinical Reasoning and Self-efficacy of Doctor of Physical Therapy Students

“…e results of this study, in agreement with previously published research, provide favorable data to support the inclusion of EL in DPT curricula to improve students' perceptions of their clinical reasoning and self-efficacy. [4][5][6][7][8][9]21 Our findings are consistent with previous research that identified EL as an educational approach that resulted in increases in clinical reasoning of allied health students. 8,9,21 e significant difference in the change scores for the SACRR between dose groups suggests that a higher dosage of pediatric EL during the DPT curriculum could have a greater impact on students' development of clinical reasoning.…”

“…20 Collectively, the results of these studies indicate that pediatric EL, including ICE, provides students with structured learning opportunities that may lead to meaningful gains in multiple areas, including psychomotor skills, self-confidence, communication, and clinical reasoning. [4][5][6][7][8][9] Schreiber et al 1 described exemplar programs to include a mean of 11.83 6 4.4 hours of EL with child contact as a component of their pediatrics courses. Flowers et al 21 defined high-dose EL to be at least 15 hours based on the exemplar description.…”

“…19 ere is a growing body of evidence in support of using ICE as a form of EL in DPT pediatric coursework with positive outcomes reported across multiple constructs. [4][5][6][7][8][9] e results of an outcome evaluation of a two-semester, stand-alone pediatrics course that included classroom instruction, laboratory activities, and 32 hours of ICE found that the inclusion of ICE increased students' knowledge translation and integration of topics learned in the classroom. 4 Students reported significant improvements in their ability to apply pediatric content, perform pediatric clinical skills, engage in familycentered care, and communicate with patients and families.…”

“…Based on results of the Pediatric Communication and Handling Self-Efficacy Scale, a researcher-developed self-report measure; students who completed this EL activity experienced statistically significant increases in perceived self-efficacy in communication and patient handling with pediatric patients. 9 Coker 20 explored outcomes of a week-long pediatric EL course on the development of master of occupational therapy students’ clinical reasoning and critical thinking skills. Students experienced statistically significant improvements in both constructs, based on scores on the Self-Assessment of Clinical Reflection and Reasoning and the California Critical Thinking Skills Test.…”

Scaffolding the Online Peer-support Experience: Novice Supporters' Strategies and Challenges

“…A commonly reported and discussed topic, therapist self-efficacy remains an important factor for skill development. Prior research has proposed mainly clinical practicum and supervision as one of the more common and effective interventions aimed at improving therapist self-efficacy [35,70,82]. These research provides strong support in our case for a communitydriven approach that aims to provide models for the novice supporters to learn from, previously outlined in section 4.2.4.…”