Pedagogical Tools to Develop Clinical Reasoning: Physical Therapy Students' Perspective

Physical therapy students' perspective about the development of clinical decision making ability was solicited to determine: (1) if actual clinical and academic learning experiences are consistent with student preferences; and, (2) if actual academic learning experiences differ according to subject matter. Program representatives contacted physical therapy students via email with an embedded link to an online survey during their final clinical education experiences. Open-ended and forced-choice items addressed reactions to learning experiences to develop clinical reasoning in academic and final clinical education experiences. Data were analyzed with frequency analysis, Chi-square and correlations of survey items. Ninety-one respondents completed the survey, yielding a 13% response rate. The frequency of use of pedagogical tools was lower than the preferred use of the tools. Perceptions about clinical reasoning learning tools varied with course content. Course content corresponded to the type of pedagogical tool that students deemed essential for learning clinical reasoning. Participants appeared to experience and prefer more independence at the final clinical experience although they preferred considerable involvement by the clinical instructor.