Item – Theses Canada

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OCLC number
295526264
Link(s) to full text
LAC copy
LAC copy
Author
Lafave, Mark Richard,1967-
Title
Design, development and evaluation of the Standardized Orthopedic Assessment Tool with athletic therapy staff and students.
Degree
Ph. D. -- University of Calgary, 2007
Publisher
Ottawa : Library and Archives Canada = Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, [2008]
Description
3 microfiches
Notes
Includes bibliographical references.
Abstract
Assessment of clinical competence in medical and paramedical professions is challenging. Teaching those same constructs can be equally challenging. The ultimate goal is to educate future health professionals to be competent. Student assessment is a critical component of this goal. Athletic therapists perform orthopedic assessments on musculoskeletal injuries in order to devise a plan to best rehabilitate the injury. As such orthopedic assessment is an important clinical competency in the profession. The purpose of this study was to develop an assessment tool (the Standardized Orthopedic Assessment Tool or SOAT) that could be employed in performance-based, practical examinations while concomitantly employing the tool to help teach the orthopedic assessment clinical competence. This study was a multiphase project consisting of content validation (phase I), initial reliability testing (phase II) and integration of the SOAT into various athletic therapy programs in Canada (phase III). Once the SOAT was content validated, reliability testing for the knee, shoulder and ankle region established the initial reliability (internal consistency) for each ([alpha] = .83, .82, .91, respectively). The third phase consisted of treatment groups being randomly assigned to three interventions that involved the SOAT and one comparison group. The University of Winnipeg (group 1) was randomly assigned as the comparison group. Interventions for the treatment groups three and four included complete exposure to the e-SOAT (a web-based version of the SOAT) for all educational stakeholders (i.e., students, faculty and clinical supervisors). The primary difference between groups three and four was that group 3 was only given access to the e-SOAT via desktop computer while group 4 had access to both desktop computer and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Only the instructors were exposed to the SOAT with group 2 and they were not permitted to share the SOAT explicitly with students or clinical supervisors. All students who participated in the study (n=58) were tested using the SOAT by the primary investigator (who acted as the standardized patient) and local examiners/raters. Knee and shoulder regions were the focus for the final phase of research. Both demonstrated good reliability: [alpha] = .93 & .90, respectively. A nested design, generalizability coefficient was calculated on group 2 (Concordia University) with positive results: Ep2 (r) = .73; Ep2(s) = .89. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed a significant difference between group 3 and groups one and two indicating the SOAT had a positive effect on final exam scores [F (2, 110.4) = 28.6, p = .01.] The covariate of "total number of post-secondary courses" did not have a significant influence on the results of the ANCOVA. Group 4 did not participate in the final phase testing because there were no student volunteers. A Predictive Learning Assessment Model (PLAM) is introduced in light of the research questions and offered as one explanation for the results of this study.
ISBN
9780494341544
0494341548