Purpose: To investigate students' understanding and reactions to, and clarify the effects of the introduction of video material on hospitality and practical skills in physical therapy education. Subjects and Methods: The study involved 72 second-year students who were introduced to the video materials of the Department of Physical Therapy at Kyushu Chuo Rehabilitation College, and 71 third-year students who had not been exposed to the video materials in the previous year. The video materials were (1) a video on hospitality and (2) a video on ID stretching skills, and the two groups were compared based on their performance in a practical test after all classes were completed. Additionally, a questionnaire survey on the video materials was also conducted. Results: The results of the practical test demonstrated that the group that received video material had significantly higher scores in both hospitality and technical aspects. Additionally, the scores within the group that received video material exhibited lower variation. The results of the questionnaire survey revealed that many respondents felt that viewing the videos improved their understanding and motivation. Conclusion: The results suggest that employing video material in class and for review is useful in improving students’ understanding of hospitality and skills.

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Purpose: The study aim was to clarify professional university students’ consciousness of physical therapy research through a questionnaire. Methods: The participants were 39 fourth-year physical therapy students. A questionnaire consisting of six items was used to assess current interest in physical therapy research and future plans for its implementation. The presence or absence of interest and implementation plans were compared. In addition, the relationship between interest and implementation plans was examined. Statistical analyses were conducted using the chi-square goodness-of-fit and Fisher’s exact tests. All analyses were performed using R version 4.3.2 (CRAN, freeware), with the significance level set at p<0.05. Results: The proportion of students expressing interest in physical therapy research was 33.3%, and 28.2% indicated plans for future implementation. Significant differences were observed between the presence and absence of current interest and future implementation plans. Furthermore, a significant correlation was found between current interest and implementation plans. Conclusion: This study confirmed a significant correlation between current interest in physical therapy research and future implementation plans. These findings suggest that fostering interest in physical therapy research during university education is crucial.

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This study aimed to develop the Clinical Educator Efficacy Scale (CEES) for physical therapist education. Methods: In Survey 1, physical therapists with experience as clinical educators (CEs) were targeted, and questions were created to extract scale items for the CEES. In Survey 2, CEs were surveyed using the 60 questions created in Survey 1, to extract scale items for the CEES. In Survey 3, CEs other than those included in Survey 2 completed a questionnaire that was based on the scale items extracted in Survey 2, to verify the reliability of the CEES. Results: Based on the analysis, the CEES, comprising 27 items across 3 factors, was developed: “Expectations for improving teaching ability,” “Confidence in teaching ability,” and “Reflection on the impact of teaching.” Conclusion: The CEES, which consists of 3 factors and 27 items, is a comprehensive psychological scale that captures the key characteristics of CEs.

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This study aimed to evaluate the academic motivation of newly enrolled students in a physical therapy training program based on self-determination theory and to clarify motivation patterns using cluster analysis. A total of 281 students participated in the study and were assessed for academic motivation, nonacademic motivation, learning readiness (importance and confidence levels), resilience (innate and acquired), and social skills. Hierarchical cluster analysis of the five academic motivation scales identified five distinct motivation patterns: “Diffused Motivation and Conformity Type,” “Average Motivation Type,” “Universal Adaptation Type,” “Low Motivation Type,” and “Amotivated Type.” Significant differences in nonacademic motivation and non-cognitive abilities were observed between these patterns. Specifically, the “Universal Adaptation Type” exhibited high resilience and social skills, while the “Low Motivation Type” and “Amotivated Type” showed lower levels in these areas. These results suggest that individualized educational support tailored to the motivation patterns of incoming students is necessary. Early identification of students at risk of low academic adaptation and the development of appropriate support systems are crucial. Providing high-quality education in physical therapy requires curricula and support systems that align with the characteristics of each motivation type from the time of enrollment.

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This study is intended to identify factors affecting the learning motivation of our school’s physical therapy students and examine effective educational support methods. Subjects: First-year students at our three-year vocational school were compared with students at a four-year university. Methods: We administered Ichikawa’s two-factor model questionnaire in April and October 2022. Students were grouped based on changes in their content-involved motivation, and we analyzed free-response questionnaires regarding the factors that influenced such changes. Results: At our school, the category “instructors” was identified as the primary factor enhancing content- involved motivation, while at the comparison school, “intellectual curiosity” was the main factor. Regarding factors that decreased content-involved motivation, our students reported “poor physical condition” and “disliked subjects,” while the comparison school students cited “lack of time” and “time–investment returns.” Discussion: To enhance content-involved motivation at our school, we believe that instructor interventions that teach self-regulated learning strategies would be beneficial. A comparison of the school results underscores the need to 1) consider appropriate study-time requirements that reflect student abilities and 2) implement gradual educational interventions.

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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the students’ non-cognitive abilities, to examine whether or not there were discrepancies between the students’ and teachers’ subjective evaluations, and to clarify the factors that influence the performance of clinical practice. Methods: The subjects were third- and fourthyear students enrolled in the physical therapy and occupational therapy departments at the university. Three questionnaires were used to evaluate non-cognitive abilities, and the need for support during clinical practice was also assessed. For the teachers’ subjective evaluation, a self-made questionnaire was used, and the subjects were classified into supportive and non-supportive groups. Results: Forty-three students were included in the analysis. The agreement rate of the students’ subjective evaluation of the need for support was 20.8%, whereas the teachers’ subjective evaluation was 83%. The results of the comparison between the support group and the non-support group showed that there were no significant differences in all the student subjective items, but there were significant differences in 8 out of 9 items in the teacher subjective items. The change in facial expression was extracted as a factor affecting the presence or absence of support. Conclusion: The richness of facial expression change was suggested to be a characteristic of students that influences whether or not to provide more-than-usual support.

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Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a new educational approach wherein students practice the physical therapy (PT) process with individuals with illnesses and assess its impact on understanding the PT process. Methods: The subjects included 27 healthy students in the second year of a three-year physical therapist training program. Two individuals with illnesses were invited to the university as collaborators. The students were divided into six groups, with a teacher assigned to each group. Under the teachers’ guidance, each group practiced the PT process on the collaborators, including information collection, PT evaluation, integration and interpretation, problem identification, goal setting, and treatment program planning. To assess learning effectiveness, the students were evaluated on their understanding of the PT process, social skills, and proficiency in PT evaluation techniques at the beginning and end of the class. A paired t-test was used to compare the two time points. Results: The students’ understanding of the PT process, social skills, and proficiency in PT evaluation techniques all improved significantly at the end of the class. Conclusion: Practical teaching is effective for learning the PT process.

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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, clinical training at this hospital became “observation only” from July 2022. To enhance the learning effect under these circumstances, we created a patient evaluation sheet that could be used during clinical visits to achieve an “understanding of the physical therapy process.” The evaluation sheet was an A4 sheet with entries for disease name, goals (short- and long-term), problems, current abilities, and therapeutic interventions, and was used by one student during long-term clinical training. The introduction of the evaluation sheet improved the student’s understanding of the physical therapy process, and the instructor rated the sheet as helpful in understanding the physical therapy process. Moreover, because the evaluation sheet took under one hour to complete, students were able to experience the physical therapy process for a greater number of cases than with case report writing. The evaluation sheet was useful as a communication tool between students and instructors because it standardized the perspective of observation and visualized students’ levels of understanding, suggesting that it may be useful in helping students understand the physical therapy process.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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