Beyond technical proficiency: exploring physical therapy educator perspective on the value of the affective domain in clinical education

Abstract

Introduction: While both faculty and clinicians acknowledge the importance of the affective domain, they may differ in how much time and emphasis should be placed on its development. This study aims to examine how Doctor of Physical Therapy academic faculty perceive the role of the affective domain in student clinical performance.

Purpose: This study will assess the value academic faculty places on the affective domain of learning and subsequently the amount of time that should be devoted to developing these skills during full-time clinical experiences.

Methods: Academic faculty were asked to complete a Qualtrics survey, created by the authors, to determine value and time to be spent teaching in each domain.

Results: Thirty surveys were completed by academic faculty. The impact of learning domains on performance in full-time clinical experiences was ranked. The value placed in the three domains resulted in the cognitive domain ranking first, followed by affective, and then psychomotor. However, academic faculty prioritizes more time teaching in the psychomotor domain, followed by cognitive and then affective during the clinical experiences.

Conclusion: Physical therapy academic faculty appear to value students’ performance in the cognitive domain highly related to success in clinical experiences, followed by the affective and psychomotor domains. They emphasized that time spent in teaching during the experience should focus on the psychomotor domain, followed by cognitive, and then affective. Academic faculty placed a lower emphasis on students being a positive contributor to the facility, which was the same finding for clinicians’ views in previous research. This may indicate a willingness to allow time for teaching in all areas during clinical experiences.