A Little More from ACC-RAC 2011

Here are a few more abstracts from PCC faculty who presented at ACC-RAC.
Robert Rowell and Michael Tunning. Evidence-based clinical practice in chiropractic: description of a class assignment and survey of student knowledge and attitudes.
Introduction: Recognizing the importance of evidence-based clinical practice (EBCP), the authors initiated an assignment in which students use EBCPC. Following this assignment, a survey was conducted of attitudes and comfort with evidence-based practice. Methods: Students participated in a lecture introducing EBCP, then critiqued an article as a group discussion, then designed a PICO (Patient, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) questions, searched the literature, and critiqued an article that they found. A short survey was conducted after they completed the assignment. Results: Out of 126 students registered for class, 86 surveys were collected (68%). Seventy students (81.4%) did a literature search. Discussion: These students had little training in EBCP prior to this assignment. They feel their skills in literature searching are generally good. However, several students did not perform a literature search. Most students used good sources of information, such as PubMed or Dynamed for their literature searches. Many students feel that they have some skills in EBCP. Conclusion: The topic of EBCP was introduced in a class assignment and students’ attitudes and self-rated understanding of EBCP were assessed.

Xiaohua He and Anne Canty. Empowering student learning through rubric-referenced self-assessment.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of rubric-referenced self-assessment on performance of anatomy assignments in a group of chiropractic students. Methods: Participants (n=259) were first-quarter students who were divided into a treatment group (n=130) and a comparison group (n=129). The intervention for both groups involved the use of rubrics to complete the first draft of anatomy assignments. General feedback was given by the instructor and the students and the students had the opportunity to amend the assignments before resubmission (second draft). The treatment group, however, was also asked to perform rubric-referenced self-critique and self-assessment of their assignments during their second draft. Although the comparison group was also provided with the identical rubrics for the assignments, it did not perform rubric-referenced self-critique and self-assessment. Results: The results revealed that the students in the treatment group, who used a rubric-referenced self-assessing learning model, received statistically significant higher scores that their counterparts in the comparison group, who did not use a rubric-referenced self-assessing learning model, in performing assignments. Conclusion: This study suggests that practicing rubric-referenced self-assessment enhances students’ performance on anatomy assignments. However, educators continue to face the challenge of developing practical and useful rubric tools for students’ self-assessment. NOTE: This paper was awarded top prize at ACC-RAC for educational research and will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Chiropractic Education.

Nancy Kime. Using evidence-based clinical practice principles to utilize and enhance student clinical reasoning skills in a classroom-based management course: a pilot project.
Introduction: With the intention to utilize concepts of adult learning, a teaching methodology was developed that incorporates evidence-based clinical practice (EBCP) principles into a case management classroom-based course. Methods: In order to train students in the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to implement EBCP, this pilot method consisted of three components: introductory lecture, guided work outside the classroom and faculty-guided small-group presentations within the classroom. Results: Student qualitative feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Students reported greater levels of confidence related to the development of patient care plans following application of evidence and related clue in professional dialogue with peers. Conclusion: This method represents a more credible approach to clinic-level student learning utilizing available classroom time to enhance high-level critical thinking and create familiarity and competence in use of EBCP, thereby benefitting patients by the use of the most valid and current evidence. I urge all of you to consider submitting an abstract next year for ACC-RAC, which will be held at Planet Hollywood hotel in Las Vegas. The theme is “Diversity in Chiropractic.”