Physiotherapy students' perception of their teachers' clinical teaching attributes

Abstract

Objective. Students’ perspectives on clinical teaching attributes can contribute to knowledge on teaching and learning in clinical education. The objective of the study was to report on Nigerian physiotherapy students’ perceptions of the clinical teaching skills of their teachers.

Design and setting. A cross-sectional survey conducted in five physiotherapy training institutions in Nigeria.

Subject. Physiotherapy students (N=203) in the clinical phase of their training participated in the study.

Outcome measure. The validated 25-item McGill Clinical Teacher Evaluation (CTE) tool was used to rate the students’ perceptions of the attributes of their clinical teachers.

Results. Overall the students rated their teachers high on the CTE scale; women rated their teachers higher than their male counterparts. Clinical teachers who are academicians and /or had doctoral degrees were rated higher than clinicians and /or those with bachelor degrees only. Students from two long established programmes not only rated their teachers higher, but were also more satisfied and positively challenged during clinical rotations than those from relatively new programmes. Conclusions. This study found that overall Nigerian physiotherapy students rated the teaching attributes of their clinical teachers highly. The nature of the work appointment (academic or clinical) of their teachers, as well as highest level of academic qualification achieved, influenced student ratings of their teachers. Students found the clinical rotations offered by well-established programmes more challenging and satisfying.