Graduate+student+identified+learning+outcomes

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** Graduate students’ identified learning outcomes achieved by a community health initiative course sequence ** Pamela Reynolds, PT, EdD, Professor, Gannon University [reynolds@gannon.edu]


 * Keywords:** Community health, physical therapy, course sequence, longitudinal study, professional development, doctoral students


 * Conference track:** Higher education student outcomes


 * Format:** Poster presentation

This poster presents results from five years of student identified learning outcomes related to the Community Health Initiative’s five-course sequence. Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students affirmed they are linking their community service-learning experiences to their professional social responsibility roles in society.
 * Summary**

Each Community Health Initiative course has a service-learning component that builds in complexity, beginning with students’ involvement in established community projects chosen by the DPT program. Beginning in the second course, students have opportunities to choose a community organization in which they are interested. The sequence culminates in a capstone project, requiring a minimum of 60 hours in which students collaborate with a community agency to meet an identified need or goal of that organization. Students are expected to demonstrate their roles as educators, consultants, and/or advocates through the course sequence.

A retrospective longitudinal case series design was used for this study, focusing on student identified educational outcomes from the five-course sequence. Eighty-three percent of students identified outcomes that occurred in seven categories required by national accreditation standards for physical therapy. Recognized evaluative criteria in order of percent of total frequencies were: //Social Responsibility and Advocacy –// 19.6%; //Prevention, Health Promotion, Fitness and Wellness –// 16.9%; //Education –// 11.37%; //Compassion and Caring –// 10.7%; //Accountability// – 9.2%; //Cultural Competence -// 8.7%; and //Communication –// 6.52%. In this study investigating how service-learning benefits students’ professional development and education, faculty members most frequently recognized the learning outcome “understanding individual differences.” Although the pedagogy of serving-learning is acknowledged, it is still not deeply embedded within the majority of physical therapy curricula. The information from this study is important for educators who adamantly embrace service-learning and those who are looking for more evidence of effectiveness before incorporating it more fully into their curricula.

American Physical Therapy Association. (2004). Professionalism in physical therapy: Core values. Alexandria, VA: American Physical Therapy Association. Retrieved March 28, 2012, from http://www.apta.org/uploadedFiles/APTAorg/About_Us/Policies/BOD/Judicial/Professionalismin PT.pdf#search=%22Professionalism in Physical Therapy%22.
 * References**

American Physical Therapy Association. (2010). Code of ethics for the physical therapist//.// Retrieved from http://www.apta.org/uploadedFiles/APTAorg/About_Us/Policies/HOD/Ethics/CodeofEthics.pdf#search=%22Code of Ethics%22.

Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education. (2004). //Evaluative criteria for accreditation of education programs for the preparation of physical therapists.// Alexandria, VA: American Physical Therapy Association.

Reynolds, P. J. (2005). How service-learning experiences benefit physical therapist students’ professional development: A grounded theory study. //Journal of Physical Therapy Education,// //19(//1), 41-51.

Reynolds, P. J. (2009). Connecting interprofessional education to the community through service-learning and community-engaged scholarship. In G. Jensen, C. Royeen, & R. Harvan. //Leadership in interprofessional education and practice// (pp. 167-187). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.


 * To access materials from this session please click on the file link(s) below:**

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