Preferred teaching and testing methods of athletic training students and program directors and the relationship to...

The purpose of this study was (1) to investigate differences between athletic training students' and program directors' preferences for teaching and testing methods and (2) to investigate the relationship between style and preferred teaching and testing methods using the Gregorc Style Delineator (GSD) and the Preferred Teaching and Testing Method Inventory (PTTMI).

We cluster sampled 200 undergraduate students (100% return; 68 men, 132 women; mean age, 20.12 +/- 2.02 yrs) and simple random sampled 100 program directors (43% return; 22 men, 21 women; mean age, 40.05 +/- 9.30 yrs) from Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs-accredited athletic training education programs.

We used a correlational research design to compare the preferred teaching and testing methods of undergraduate students and program directors. All subjects completed a demographic survey, the GSD, and the PTTMI. Our analyses included two separate 2 (role: student and program director) x 8 (method: teaching or testing techniques) and two separate 4 (style: concrete sequential, abstract sequential, abstract random, concrete random) x 8 (method: teaching and testing techniques) mixed-model analyses of variance.

We found that athletic training students and program directors had significantly different preferences for teaching (p < 0.01) and testing (p < 0.01) methods, respectively. No significant relationships were revealed between athletic training students' and program directors' Mind Style typologies and their preferences for teaching or testing method.

We recommend that athletic training and allied health educators consider implementing pedagogy that accentuates students' styles and consider self and students' preferences for preferred teaching and testing methods as time and topic permit.