The discrepancy between motivation and learning experience in observation practice

: A survey of orthopedic facilities on orthosis

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the willingness to learn and the learning experience of orthosis in the field trip to an orthopedic surgery facility, to find points to keep in mind in the on-campus education and clinical education regarding orthosis, and to understand areas for improvement. Subjects and Methods: The target population consisted of 39 first-year physical therapy students at a vocational school, 21 of whom had completed a field trip to an orthopedic surgery facility. A questionnaire and open-ended responses were used for the survey. Wilcoxon’s signed rank test was used for the questionnaire responses, and KH Coder, a software for quantitative text analysis, was used for the open-ended responses. The responses of physical therapy students before and after the field trip were compared. Results: The most common areas of discrepancy between willingness to learn and learning experience were the ability to determine if an orthosis device was necessary, knowledge of orthosis device adaptations and type selection, and orthosis device use and hygiene. Conclusion: A discrepancy between learning motivation and learning experience was confirmed in the field trip training. It is possible that there is a high need for efforts to increase the willingness to learn in on-campus education and the learning experience in practical training education.