Editorial: The Changing Face of Athletic Training Education.
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Biomedical subjects
Gary L Harrelson
Publications and source records attributed to Gary L Harrelson.
Critical-Thinking Predisposition Among Undergraduate Athletic Training Students.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the tendency of undergraduate athletic training students to think critically, to assess their likelihood of using specific components of critical thinking, and to study the effect of selected demographic and educational variables on critical-thinking tendencies in this sample of students. DESIGN AND SETTING: Data were collected before regularly scheduled athletic training classes at the beginning of the spring semester. SUBJECTS: Ninety-one students enrolled in 3 Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs-accredited undergraduate athletic training education programs in the southeast. The subjects ranged in age from 19 to 29 years (mean age = 22.33 +/- 1.94). Forty-six (50.5%) of the subjects were men and 45 (49.5%) were women. MEASUREMENTS: The California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory contains 75 Likert-type items assessing 7 components of critical thinking: truth seeking, open mindedness, analyticity, systematicity, inquisitiveness, cognitive maturity, and critical-thinking self-confidence. RESULTS: The overall mean indicated a general but mild trend toward critical thinking, with weak scores on the truth-seeking subscale. One-way analysis of variance reflected significant differences among the schools for truth seeking, open mindedness, and maturity subscales and for the overall mean score for the entire inventory. Only the open-mindedness difference persisted between 2 of the schools after post hoc testing. Correlation analyses indicated no significant relationship between total score and age, sex, ethnicity, year in athletic training program, cumulative grade point average, completed semester hours, or clinical-experience hours. CONCLUSIONS: Athletic training students are inclined toward critical thinking, but this tendency is relatively weak. Classroom and clinical instructors should use teaching methods and techniques that facilitate the components of critical thinking. The promotion of critical thinking and critical-thinking skills has implications for athletic training education and the advancement of certified athletic trainers and the profession of athletic training.
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Designing Instruction That Supports Cognitive Learning Processes.
OBJECTIVE: To provide an overview of current cognitive learning processes, including a summary of research that supports the use of specific instructional methods to foster those processes. We have developed examples in athletic training education to help illustrate these methods where appropriate. DATA SOURCES: Sources used to compile this information included knowledge base and oral and didactic presentations. DATA SYNTHESIS: Research in educational psychology within the past 15 years has provided many principles for designing instruction that mediates the cognitive processes of learning. These include attention, management of cognitive load, rehearsal in working memory, and retrieval of new knowledge from long-term memory. By organizing instruction in the context of tasks performed by athletic trainers, transfer of learning and learner motivation are enhanced. CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS: Scientific evidence supports instructional methods that can be incorporated into lesson design and improve learning by managing cognitive load in working memory, stimulating encoding into long-term memory, and supporting transfer of learning.
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