Teaching clinic conferences: perceptions of supervisor and peer behavior

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Education

Background:

• Supervisory approaches in clinical training are crucial for professional development.
• Teaching clinics provide a group-based supervisory setting for graduate students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess graduate students' perceptions of supervisor and peer behavior in teaching clinics.
• To identify factors influencing these perceptions within a group supervisory context.

Main Methods:

• Four groups of graduate students participated in 19 teaching clinics.
• Individual Conference Rating Scales were used to evaluate supervisor and peer interactions post-conference.

Main Results:

• Significant differences were found in perceived behaviors between supervisors and peers.
• Perceptions also varied among different supervisor groups and student groups.
• Perceptual variations increased with the number of teaching clinics attended by each group.

Conclusions:

• Participant role (supervisor vs. peer) did not influence perception ratings.
• The number of supervisory sessions impacts student perceptions of group dynamics.
• Understanding these perceptual differences is key for optimizing group supervision in clinical training.