Perceived Preparedness of Graduate Assistant Approved Clinical Instructors for Supervision of Athletic Training Students in Professional Programs

Abstract

Context: Approved clinical instructors (ACIs) are crucial for the development of athletic training students. Graduate students often serve as ACIs and usually do not have extensive clinical experience, and therefore may not feel adequately prepared to supervise students. Objectives: 1) To determine the perceived preparedness of graduate assistant ACIs in the supervision of athletic training students in professional programs; 2) To determine perceptions of ACI training. Design: Prospective, exploratory. Setting: Programs that have been accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) for five years or more. Participants: Thirty-three out of 140 graduate assistant ACIs (23.5% response rate) at 27 athletic training programs. Instrumentation: A 47-item Graduate Assistant ACI Perceived Preparedness online questionnaire. Data Analysis: Frequencies and percentages were used to describe the responses for questionnaire items; an ANOVA was used to examine self-assessment ratings among participant groups. Results: Participants felt prepared in learning styles (79%), ACI responsibilities (100%), evaluation and feedback of student performance (79%). They felt most prepared to evaluate and provide feedback in students' clinical skills and least prepared in evaluating and providing feedback for professional behaviors. The greatest challenges faced by participants included time constraints (69.7%), controlling the learning environment (57.6%), and understanding institutional policies and procedures related to clinical education (39.4%). When asked to self-assess their first-year performance supervising students on a scale of 0 (worst performance) to 10 (best performance), the mean [SD] score reported was 6.97 [1.2]. There were no differences in first-year self-assessment performance ratings between participants who thought ACI training was adequate and/or beneficial and those who did not (P=0.05). Conclusion: Most of the participants felt prepared to be an ACI as a graduate assistant and believed the ACI training to be adequate and beneficial. There were no differences in self-reported first-year performance ratings between participants who believed their training to be adequate and beneficial and those who did not.