The effect of role, age, gender, and years of experience upon the perceived importance of clinical teacher behavior categories in athletic training education

This study investigated the effect of athletic training education program role (program director or clinical instructor), age, gender, and years of experience upon the perceived importance of instructional, interpersonal, evaluative, professional, and personal categories of clinical teacher behaviors and characteristics. The population of the study consisted of Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) accredited entry-level undergraduate athletic training education programs. All CAAHEP accredited entry-level undergraduate athletic training education programs were surveyed. Respondents to the survey were program directors and full-time on campus clinical instructors serving in these programs. The Clinical Instructor Behavior Instrument, developed by the researcher, was sent to all 130 CAAHEP accredited entry-level undergraduate athletic training education programs. Responses were received from 79 programs (61%). Results of the study indicated significant differences regarding role and gender upon the perceived importance of the five categories of clinical teacher behaviors and characteristics. Program directors perceived evaluative behaviors as significantly more important than clinical instructors, and females perceived all five behavior categories as significantly more important than males.