Date of Award
2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
College
College of Education and International Services
Program
Leadership PhD
First Advisor
Sharon Aka
Second Advisor
Elizabeth Oakley
Third Advisor
Dennis Lundgren
Abstract
Problem
The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) developed the Clinical Performance Instrument (CPI) to assess the professional behaviors required for a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) student to be considered "entry level" in their clinical training. Feedback from our clinical partners has indicated that, historically, students from the Andrews University DPT program have scored lower than students from other programs in several areas of the CPI during their clinical experiences. According to subjective reports from our clinical partners, these areas included safety, professional behavior, accountability, communication, and critical thinking. These five areas have been the focus of our efforts in developing the on-campus clinic, which utilizes an abbreviated CPI feedback form. However, AU DPT faculty are uncertain whether this feedback reflects formative professionalism in the lab setting or if it aligns more with clinical practice opportunities and experiences with external partners.
Purpose of Study
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of professionalism education and formative feedback on DPT students in an on-campus clinic. The training and feedback focused on the specific areas where Andrews University DPT students have scored lower historically compared to other physical therapy students at the same level in the program. The goal was to determine whether this training and formative feedback led to improved CPI scores by the end of their first of three terminal clinical experiences. To assess this, the CPI scores from the class of 2023, who received on-campus clinic training and formative feedback using the abbreviated CPI form, were compared to the CPI scores from the class of 2017, who did not receive the on-campus clinic training and feedback.
Method
This quasi-experimental, quantitative study employed a nonequivalent control group post-test only design. This design was selected to compare the CPI scores between two cohorts: the class of 2017 and the class of 2023. The class of 2017 did not participate in an on-campus clinical experience, whereas the class of 2023 had on-campus clinical experiences every semester during their didactic training. The study used numerical data to measure changes in CPI scores before and after the intervention, which was the on-campus clinic experience.
Findings
The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of professionalism education and formative feedback on DPT students in an on-campus clinic. The findings revealed no statistically significant difference between the two cohorts in the areas of safety, professional behavior, accountability, communication, and critical reasoning. Students who received formative feedback (class of 2023) during on-campus clinical experiences across six semesters did not score higher on the CPI compared to the cohort that did not participate in on-campus clinical experiences (class of 2017). Statistical analysis indicated no significant difference between the two cohorts in clinical instructor ratings of their performance at both mid-term and final grading periods. Additionally, the study found no significant difference in student self-assessment CPI scores at mid-term and final grading periods between the two groups.
Subject Area
Andrews University. School of Rehabilitation Sciences--Students; Clinical competence; Students--Rating of; Doctor of physical therapy degree
Recommended Citation
Scott, William L., "The Impact of Professionalism Education and Formative Feedback in Doctor of Physical Therapy Students Utilizing the Abbreviated CPI Feedback Form in the On-Campus Clinic Environment" (2025). Dissertations. 1830.
https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dissertations/1830
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
