In response to the challenges that novice students can face in clinical education, university staff worked closely with clinical partners and a communication skills expert to design and pilot a scaffolding strategy in clinical education. This clinical education innovation was targeting physiotherapy students early in their clinical learning journey. The question for this project was: Can universities work with clinical partners and students to design an effective education strategy that support novice students in clinical education?
Therefore, the aim of this project was to design and pilot a clinical education support session for physiotherapy students early in their clinical learning journey to enhance student learning.
This education innovation project took an iterative, action-research approach to developing the clinical education support pilot initiative. Education theory such as adult learning and scaffolding was also included along with the incorporation of principles of co-design. University staff met with clinical site student coordinators and a communication expert to design an initial session for a one-hour online session for novice physiotherapy students. Students were provided an opportunity to contribute their initial placement experiences prior to guide discussion. The session included key topics identified by staff as common challenges for novice students in clinical education. These included understanding the tensions that both clinical educators and students carry during clinical education, managing multiple perspectives of different supervisors and preparing for halfway assessment feedback. Short scenarios were developed, depicting commonly-observed student challenges, with breakout discussions for student-generated strategy development, followed by whole-group discussion. This model was then piloted with physiotherapy students from a single cohort in an undergraduate program and a graduate entry program. Student feedback was reviewed and the session was refined in response. The program was then run for a further 6 months with a different cohort from each program, student feedback was reviewed again, discussed among project staff and further refinements made.
During the pilot period approximately 30% of novice students out on placements opted to attend these clinical support sessions. Feedback was collected regarding the clinical learning environment
Initial findings indicate that university programs can work with clinical partners and students, to co-design effective education initiatives that support novice students in clinical education. Using principles of co-design contribute to designing a model that addresses the shared priorities of clinical partners, university staff and students. Further research is needed to ensure that the student perspective is amplified in the design of this clinical education initiative.
By working with clinical partners and students, universities can co-design impactful education strategies that support novice students in clinical education and enhance student experience.
education innovation
