Simulation-based education is a teaching method used successfully in nursing and medical education as well as in the military and aviation fields. It provides students with safe learning environments and opportunities to practice skills not seen or used during clinical rotations. Debriefing is an essential component of simulation where learning occurs while also fostering critical thinking and clinical reasoning and promoting self-efficacy with clinical skills. While research has shown that simulation increases clinical evaluation skill self-efficacy in athletic training education [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6] little research focuses on which debriefing method effectively increases students' clinical evaluation self-efficacy. Framed in Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory [7], [8] the purpose of this study is to compare the effects of common debriefing methods following simulation experiences on athletic training students' clinical evaluation self-efficacy. In this quasi-experimental, retrospective pretest-posttest study, the researchers explored the effect of four common debriefing methods on students’ clinical evaluation self-efficacy. Using the Confidence Rating Scale, the researchers collected students’ self-efficacy scores before and after a simulated experience with debriefing through an online survey that was distributed to current athletic training students. This research found no significant relationship between athletic training students' pretest clinical evaluation skill self-efficacy and the type of debriefing method experienced following a simulated experience. As well, no significant association was found between demographic variables of gender, age, and debriefer gender on students' self-efficacy from pretest to posttest. It also found no significant relationship between athletic training students' pretest to posttest clinical evaluation skill self-efficacy and the type of debriefing method. These findings are consistent with the self-efficacy component of Bandura's social cognitive theory in that self-efficacy is often formed before task demands and as a result of self-appraisal of one's ability to perform skills [8]. The results of this study demonstrate that one debriefing method does not outshine other methods. This research adds to the body of knowledge on debriefing methods and self-efficacy in athletic training students as it provides athletic training programs with information on how debriefing methods affect clinical evaluation skill self-efficacy. Understanding how debriefing methods affect students' clinical evaluation skill self-efficacy will allow athletic training educators to implement the most effective methods in their programs. Using a debriefing method that helps students become self-efficacious with their clinical evaluation skills will enable educators to implement best practices in education programs. This, in turn, benefits programs and students with potential pass rates on the national certification exam. Producing self-efficacious clinicians with their clinical evaluation skills will help with improving patient treatment and increasing patient-reported outcomes.

Authors: Amy Brzoska, Lori Kupczynski

Published in: World Congress on Education (WCE-2023)

• Date of Conference: 26-28 June, 2023
• DOI: 10.20533/WCE.2023.00012
• ISBN: 978-1-913572-59-4
• Conference Location: Residence and Conference Centre, Toronto, Canada