Self-Directed Learning Readiness And Self-Determination For Selected Rehabilitation Professional Students: The Impact Of Clinical Education

Abstract

In a time of rapidly changing medical information, practitioners must have learning skills that enable them to be effective life-long learners. A part of an examination of a final clinical internship for rehabilitation professionals was a pre-post measure of learner self-direction and self-determination. Two instruments, the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) and the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS- reported as Self-Determination Index (SDI) were used with a sample of Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT) and Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) students. Pre-testing occurred just prior to and post-testing just after the subjects’ final clinical assignments. Both groups increased mean scores from pre- to post-test for the SDLRS (p = .01, mean increase 7.29) and the SDI (p = .01, mean increase 0.91). Results of this study support the use of the SDLRS and AMS as means to evaluate self-directed learning readiness and self-determination in rehabilitation professional students.