Clinical teaching: fieldwork supervisors' attitudes and values

The purpose of this study was to initiate the identification of fieldwork supervisors' educational needs by ascertaining their values and attitudes toward exemplary principles of teaching advocated by adult educators. Each principle was rephrased as an attitude or value associated with Level II fieldwork, matched with a Likert-type 5-point interval scale, and distributed to a convenience sample of 81 fieldwork supervisors. Ninety-two percent of the questionnaires were returned. The statement responses were tallied by frequency and were then summed and ranked. The range of scores indicated that the fieldwork supervisors' values and attitudes were congruent with the identified principles of teaching. The rankings revealed that the supervisors placed the highest value on providing a thorough orientation and the lowest values on individualization of the fieldwork experience and supervisor-student collaboration. The findings indicate a need for further education about ways to individualize learning and involve students in planning, implementing, and evaluating the learning experience.