Publication Date

2024

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

McCarthy, Amanda K.

Degree Name

Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)

Legacy Department

School of Interdisciplinary Health Professions

Abstract

The growing complexity of the healthcare environment and the need to equitably address the health and well-being of a diverse patient population has increased the requirement for practical instruction and assessment of clinical reasoning in the training of health professionals. Formative assessment, in the form of feedback, is recognized as an essential instructional component in teaching clinical reasoning. This study aimed to investigate the role of feedback in developing clinical reasoning during clinical education.

This investigation consisted of three unique studies completed in phases. The scoping review methodology in phase one revealed six themes from the included articles (n = 28) regarding the use of feedback in teaching and learning clinical reasoning. Phase two consisted of an electronic survey administered to 91 student physical therapists completing one of their final clinical experiences before graduation. The survey collected data about self-efficacy for clinical reasoning, student feedback orientation, and their perceptions of the quality and delivery of feedback. Relationships were identified between student feedback orientation (β = .663, t(85) = 4.21, p < .000), self-efficacy for using feedback (β = .355, t(90) = 4.21, p < .001) and their self-efficacy for clinical reasoning. In phase three, the researcher conducted a retrospective analysis using dyads (n = 1544) created using survey responses from student physical therapists (n = 395) and characteristics of clinical instructors. A small positive effect was seen in students' self-assessed clinical reasoning skills when paired with a Credentialed Clinical Instructor or board-certified specialist during clinical experiences (t(1538) = 2.38, p = .017). In sum, the findings from all three phases of this investigation provide insight into the role of feedback in clinical reasoning development, which can be used to inform future research.

Extent

177 pages

Language

en

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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