The purpose of this study was to describe the educational backgrounds and teaching styles of athletic training educators and to see if a relationship existed between educational backgrounds and teaching styles. An electronic survey was e-mailed to 338 Program Directors of CAAHEP accredited undergraduate and graduate athletic training education programs. The survey was also posted on the athletic training educator's listserv to recruit more participants. The survey contained questions regarding demographics and educational history, as well as the Teaching Styles Inventory (Grasha, 2002). A total of 198 athletic training educators responded to the survey, and 174 filled out the survey in its entirety.An overwhelming majority of the participants were White (98%) and about 50% were male or female. Over half of the participants were program directors (59%) and 38% were at the assistant professor rank. Thirty-one percent were currently employed at a liberal arts instituti on. Most were employed in a College of Education (36%), working in a department of health, physical education, and recreation (25%). These athletic training educators had diverse educational backgrounds. A Bachelor of Science degree had been awarded to 78% of the respondents, and 33% of the Bachelor's degrees were in physical education. Forty-five percent did not have a minor degree. At the master's level, most of the degrees that had been awarded were Master's of Science (63%) and 23% were in athletic training/sports medicine. Most of the participants did not hold a post-graduate level degree (37%). Of those with a post-graduate degree, 27% held a Doctorate of Philosophy. Nine percent were in curriculum and instruction. On average, athletic training educators had been teaching for 8 years, had completed 8 courses in pedagogy, and had attended 8 workshops that were based on improving pedagogical practices. The predominant teaching style among athletic training educators was per sonal model (50%). Surprisingly, none of the participants had a delegator teaching style as their predominant style. The results of the MANOVA suggested that a significant relationship did not exist between educational backgrounds and teaching styles among these athletic training educators.

Transitioning from a clinical practitioner to an educator in the health sciences is a difficult task for many professionals. Although, clinically, these individuals have achieved a level of expertise, they are not necessarily trained to teach in a classroom setting and may find it difficult to transition into their role as novice. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine faculty members' preparedness during their transition to academia and their perceptions of the need for more support during the first 5 years of teaching. Vygotsky's and Dewey's theories of social constructivism and Knowles's assumptions of adult learning provided the framework for this research. The main research question focused on exploring perceptions about instructional preparedness and support for university educators, at a university in Detroit, Michigan, in health science fields. The data sources were interviews and observations from 9 health science faculty members. Interviews were coded based on perceptive categories such as experiences, knowledge, and opinions, whereas observations were coded using recurrent patterns of identified standards of university teaching based on teaching preparedness. Results showed 5 areas where the participants felt they needed more support: peer mentoring, administration support, institutional support, interaction with students, and instructional methodology technology training. Findings may provide insight to university administrators on strategies to provide more effective professional development to health science educators. Potential implications for positive social change include increased job satisfaction and retention for professionals who become health science educators.