title: A collaborative teaching strategy for enhancing learning of evidence-based clinical decision-making.
abstract: The educational literature cites a lack of student motivation to learn how to use research evidence in clinical decision-making because the students do not observe clinicians using evidence. This lack of motivation presents a challenge to educators as they seek to instill the value of evidence-based clinical decision-making (EBCD) in students. One problem is that students in entry-level programs do not have the experience needed to know what to look for, and secondly, clinical decision-making is contextually based in a patient problem. Our approach offers one solution to bridging the gap between classroom teaching and real-world implementation of EBCD through a three-phase collaborative approach. Occupational and physical therapy students are partnered with clinicians to find and appraise evidence to answer the real-world questions posed by these therapists. This paper describes the implementation of the partnership, teaching/learning outcomes, logistics, and implications for clinicians. We found this approach increased student motivation and greatly enhanced the learning experience. Future directions include implementing a framework which allows for the assessment of the strategy on the facility and creates opportunities to integrate the use of EBCD in all aspects of facility practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Therapy, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN 46208, USA. scottp@iupui.edu
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Altenburger
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kean
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003479:Curriculum; D003657:Decision Making; D004521:Educational Measurement; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000193:education*; D026761:Physical Therapy Specialty / Q000193:education*; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*