Sandra Filice
Humber College, Canada
Title: Determining clinical teacher pedagogical content knowledge: The Canadian experience
Biography
Biography: Sandra Filice
Abstract
Canadian nursing programs clinical practicums are almost entirely staffed by part time clinical teachers. It has been suggested that while these nurses are clinical experts they often lack pedagogical knowledge of how to teach nursing students. In attempting to identify appropriate supports for Clinical Teachers it was determined that there was a lack of measurement tools to assess the current state of clinical teacher pedagogical knowledge. In fact, only one instrument developed and tested by Wolf, Beitz, Peters and Wieland (2009) was found. The Clinical Teacher Knowledge Test instrument utilized a 40 item multiple-choice test developed based on clinical teaching literature and case studies. An assessment of psychometric properties and a thematic analysis of the study results were conducted by the authors. Most of the teachers in the study found that items related to the teacher role and the patient, student teacher relationships, student counseling approaches, the use of theory in clinical teaching, student rights and the responsibilities of teachers with regards to their rights and responsibilities as educators were challenging. The researchers recommended that further research be conducted to examine the psychometric properties of the tool and identify further areas to support clinical teachers in their work. With permission of the original authors, an expert Canadian clinical educator panel adapted the test to the Canadian context. This research presents the psychometric properties of the Canadian Clinical Teacher Pedagogical Content Knowledge Test after implementation with new and returning Humber College nursing clinical teachers. An analysis of the study findings and suggestions for appropriate resources to support the work of Nursing Clinical Teachers will be presented.