Purpose. Clinical education is a critical component of the education of physical therapists (PT). Clinical instructors (CIs) are primarily responsible for coordinating and supervising this clinical learning. However, little has been published about how CIs make decisions and solve problems related to clinical teaching and how this instructional reasoning changes with experience with clinical teaching. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the instructional reasoning of novice and experienced CIs. Methods. A qualitative multiple case-study design was used. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and review of clinical teaching artifacts. A coding framework was developed for coding each individual case. Cross-case analysis to examine the impact of experience on clinical teaching was performed. Trustworthiness was established through peer review of data. Credibility was established through triangulation of the data and member checks. Participants. A sample of convenience of PTs who were credentialed as CIs in Indiana was used. Six participants with a range of experience as CIs and clinicians were selected and consented to participate. Results. Four major themes emerged to describe the instructional reasoning of CIs. These themes were communicating expectations for the student's role in the learning process, creating an environment conducive to learning, facilitating student achievement of learning goals, and balancing dual roles and responsibilities. The more experienced CIs clarified expectations for students to be active participants in a challenging learning environment and used well-defined teaching strategies to facilitate student achievement of learning goals that were integrated into the patient care responsibilities. The novice CIs were less likely to clarify expectations and to connect learning goals with teaching strategies. They focused on creating a comfortable environment for learning and were challenged by balancing the dual roles of clinical teacher with responsibilities for patient care. Conclusions. This study provided an in-depth description of the instructional reasoning of CIs and how this instructional reasoning changes with experience. The results indicated that instructional reasoning matures with clinical teaching experience. Clinical education faculty should consider developing strategies to support the development of novice CIs. Strategies to supplement development of student clinical reasoning should also be considered.

Radiologic technologists who transition into the role of clinical instructor are usually expert practitioners but may lack knowledge of best practices regarding student instruction and evaluation. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to investigate how CIs experience the transition from practitioner to educator and what knowledge or education of best practices of instruction and evaluation they bring to the position. This study consisted of interviews with radiography CIs from one associate degree radiography program in the southeastern part of the United States. While some CIs felt prepared to transition into the CI role, none of them had previously had education regarding instruction. They were provided support as they transitioned, but little formal orientation or training. The results of this study should challenge radiography programs to implement or strengthen current orientation programs for new CIs who are critical to student success.

At a dental hygiene program within a community college in New York State, clinical instructors are hired based on their expertise as practitioners. Most clinical instructors lack a background in adult learning theory and practice, which is an issue because their students are adult learners whose average age is 26. The instructors' lack of knowledge in this area challenges their effectiveness. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore dental hygiene instructors' views about what kind of professional development offerings related to adult learning might help improve their teaching effectiveness. The conceptual framework for this project study was Lave and Wenger's situated learning theory. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 part-time clinical instructors from the same academic department. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Five themes emerged from data analysis: participants' commitment to teaching, experience with students' attitudes, desire for communication, satisfaction with students' successes, and need for professional development. These findings led to the design of a professional development program that includes content on behaviorism, humanism, social cognitive theory, cognitivism, constructivism, and experiential learning theory. The goals of the program include providing clinical instructors with a background in adult learning theory and identifying ways to implement adult learning theory into clinical instruction. In potentially improving the teaching effectiveness of clinical instructors, this study may result in the better preparation of dental hygiene students and, ultimately, lead to improved patient care.

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Background: Clinical instructors are expected to be excellent practitioners with great teaching skills. They play a vital role in teaching the next generation of respiratory therapists (RTs). Because clinical instructors impact the learning process of teaching the next generation, it is important to identify the effective teaching characteristics that contribute to the clinical success of the student from the perspective of RT faculty. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to identify effective behavioral teaching characteristics of clinical instructors that are deemed most and least important by RT faculty in the State of Georgia. METHODS: Data were collected through a descriptive survey. The survey was adapted and emailed to all RT faculty members listed on The Georgia Society for Respiratory Care (GSRC) website. The survey consisted of three main domains: professional competence, relationship with students, and personal attributes. Thirty-five behavioral teaching characteristics were presented on a five-point Likert scale according to importance. RESULTS: Nineteen responses were received out of forty emailed surveys, with a response rate of 47.5%. The majority of participants indicated a master degree as their highest degree. Almost 58% of the participants teach at programs that offer associate degree. The study findings indicated faculty members’ perceptions ranking of the most important behavioral teaching characteristics hold a lot of similarities and some differences. Among all provided teaching characteristics, “Facilitate critical thinking in clinical practice was perceived as the most important behavioral teaching characteristic with mean scores and S.D of (M 4.89, S.D ±0.31), respectively. In the domain of relationship with students, “Encourage students to feel free to ask questions or ask for help” was ranked the highest by the participants with a mean of 4.57 and S.D of ±0.50. In the personal attributes domain, “Able to collaborate with other disciplines” was ranked as the most important characteristic with mean scores and S.D respectively (M 4.68, S.D ±0.47). CONCULSION: Faculty from different program levels (associate, baccalaureate and master) agreed that “Facilitate critical thinking in clinical practice” was the most important characteristic. Based on these findings, it is highly recommend that clinical instructors strive to improve their attitudes toward students as the best way to achieve the goals of clinical teaching. They also showed the need for respiratory therapy programs to foster and to promote uniformly identified effective behavioral teaching characteristics.