Better Together: Participant Perception of a Virtual Community of Practice for PTA Educators
The purpose of our project was to determine effectiveness of a large scale virtual community of practice (CoP) program created just-in-time to build networks and solve problems from the major disruption to PTA education during the COVID pandemic.
Files
-
View: Abstract ELC 2023 Better Together Participant Perception of a Virtual Community of Practice for PTA Educators.pdf
Download: Abstract ELC 2023 Better Together Participant Perception of a Virtual Community of Practice for PTA Educators.pdf
Metadata
Work Title Better Together: Participant Perception of a Virtual Community of Practice for PTA Educators Access Creators - Jennifer Jewell
- Justin Berry
- Betsy J. Becker
- Lisa L. Stejskal
- Karen Browning
- Beverly A. Labosky
Keyword - Physical Therapist Assistant
- Community of Practice
License CC BY 4.0 (Attribution) Work Type Poster Publication Date October 2023 DOI doi:10.26207/sqpz-4c42 Source - 2023 Educational Leadership Conference of the American Physical Therapy Association
Deposited September 28, 2023 Versions
Analytics
Collections
This resource is currently not in any collection.
Work History
Version 1
published-
Created
-
Updated
-
Added Creator Jennifer Jewell, Penn State Shenango
-
Added Creator Justin Berry, Northland Community and Technical College
-
Added Creator Betsy J. Becker, University of Nebraska Medical Center
-
Added Creator Lisa L. Stejskal, Mount Wachusett Community College
-
Added Creator Beverly A. Labosky, Montgomery County Community College
-
Added Creator Karen Browning, Central New Mexico Community College
-
Updated Description, Publication Date Show ChangesDescriptionPublication Date
- Conference: Educational Leadership Conference of the American Physical Therapy Association
- Presentation Type: Poster
- Abstract
- Purpose:
- The purpose of our project was to determine effectiveness of a large scale virtual community of practice (CoP) program created just-in-time to build networks and solve problems from the major disruption to PTA education during the COVID pandemic.
- Methods/Description:
- A nation-wide virtual CoP program was created to provide opportunities to connect PTA educators during the COVID-19 pandemic around the topics of administration, clinical education, and teaching. 8 groups of 6-9 educators met for 8 1-hour sessions over 4 months. The facilitator of each session rotated among the group members.
- Participants completed a survey at the end of the 4 months about their experiences. An electronic
- Qualtrics survey was provided to participants as a follow up to their experience in the pilot project. The study consisted of three parts. Part one included seven questions collecting demographic information about the participants. Part two included participant perceptions about the structure of the communities. Participants were asked about the primary reason for joining the communities and the primary outcome of the community as well as 8 questions regarding their experience with regard to the overall perceptions (also one attendance and open ended participation. Part three included questions regarding the participants’ network connections. Individuals did not have to provide an answer to every question on the survey. The study was approved through the IRB at Northland Community and Technical College and University of Nebraska Medical Center. The survey was sent to all 61 participants of the teaching and networking communities on October 24, 2021 via an email invitation. Dillman’s Survey Design method was used to promote survey responses including a pre-announcement followed by the survey and up to three reminders for non-respondents. Data was collected from October 24, 2021-November 5, 2021.
- Results/Outcomes:
- There were 61 participants across eight communities and 45 (73.8%) completed the questionnaire. Five were eliminated due to an incomplete survey response. The final response rate was 66%.
- Results were collapsed to a 2 categories for agreement and disagreement. 35/41 attended more than half of the scheduled sessions.
- Nearly all the educators (82.1%) reported having opportunity to resolve an issue currently impacting their role. There was high agreement that participants’ voices and ideas were heard during the sessions (92.5%), the environment was safe and encouraging (92.5%) and 87.5% reported the communication within their community was productive.
- There was high agreement (92.5%) the meeting frequency and length were appropriate, the guidelines for the meetings were clear and understandable (84%), and facilitators reported a good understanding of their role (81.6%).
- The two highly ranked reasons for initial participation were to generate new ideas and collaboration. At the end of the program the primary outcomes from participating included generating new ideas, collaboration, with additional benefits of receiving support through broadening their network and developing relationships.
- 92.5% reported they would participate in future teaching and networking communities.
- Conclusions:
- The virtual CoP was effective in bringing PTA Educators together in productive and meaningful ways. There was major disruption to educational delivery requiring cohesive problem solving around clinical education, teaching methods and administration. In addition, the supportive nature of the community lead to cohesion and high attendance at the voluntary after-work-day event when personal lives were also disrupted.
- The outcomes from participating were very similar to the highly ranked primary reasons for participating, which shows the participation goals were reached with this virtual network project. A majority of the participants indicated that they would participate in future teaching & networking communities. These results will assist with future virtual community of practice model designs.
- Clinical relevance:
- Small virtual communities of practice built on a shared topic can be an effective method for PTA educators to connect. Replication of this virtual community structure could translate to similar outcomes within other educator subsets across the spectrum of physical therapy education; such as clinical educators.
- References:
- 1. Grunspan DZ, Holt EA, Keenan SM. Instructional Communities of Practice during COVID-19:
- Social Networks and Their Implications for Resilience. J Microbiol Biol Educ. 2021;22(1):22.1.44.
- 2. Gachago D, Cruz L, Belford C, et al. Third places: Cultivating Mobile Communities of Practice in the Global South. The international journal for academic development. 2021;26:335-346.
- 3. Bolisani E, Fedelim M, DeMarchi V, Bierema L, Together we win: Communities of practice to face the covid crisis in higher education. Proc. Int. Conf. Intell. Capital., Knowl. Manage. Org. Learn., ICICKM ; 2020-October:72-79, 2020.
- 4. Boada DA. Cultivating an online teacher community of practice around the instructional conversation pedagogy: a social network analysis. Educational technology research and development. 2021;2022;70:289-319.
- 5. Roussel D, Gordon PR, Wagner JM, Bardack M, Sardesai MG, Colbert-Getz JM. The learning community faculty experience: how longitudinal relationships with learners enhance work meaning. Perspectives on medical education. 2020;9:343-349.
- 6. Becker BJ, Sayles H, Woehler M, Rost T, Willett GM. An Investigation of Professional Networks and Scholarly Productivity of Early Career Physical Therapy Faculty. Journal of Physical Therapy Education (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins). 2019;33(2):94-102. Accessed April 9, 2021. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edo&AN=148484614&site=eds-live
- 7. Niehaus E, O’Meara K. Invisible but Essential: The Role of Professional Networks in Promoting Faculty Agency in Career Advancement. Innovative Higher Education. 2015;40(2):159-171. doi:10.1007/s10755-014-9302-7
- 8. Benbow RJ, Lee C. Teaching-focused social networks among college faculty: Exploring conditions for the development of social capital. Higher Education. 2019;78(1):67-89.
- 9. Becker, Betsy J. PT, DPT, PhD; Shope, Ron PhD; Willett, Gilbert PT, MS, PhD; Von Essen, Susanna MD, MPH; Kennel, Victoria PhD Early Career Physical Therapist Faculty Connecting With Others for Scholarly Activity: A Grounded Theory Study, Journal of Physical Therapy Education: March 2021 - Volume 35 - Issue 1 - p 3-11 doi: 10.1097/JTE.0000000000000161
- 2023-10
-
Added
Poster Participant Perception of a Virtual Community of Practice for PTA Educators .pdf -
Updated Keyword, License Show ChangesKeywordLicense
- Physical Therapist Assistant, Community of Practice
- https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
-
Added
Participant Perception of a Virtual Community of Practice for PTA Educators .pdf -
Updated Description Show ChangesDescription
Conference: Educational Leadership Conference of the American Physical Therapy AssociationPresentation Type: PosterAbstractPurpose:- The purpose of our project was to determine effectiveness of a large scale virtual community of practice (CoP) program created just-in-time to build networks and solve problems from the major disruption to PTA education during the COVID pandemic.
Methods/Description:A nation-wide virtual CoP program was created to provide opportunities to connect PTA educators during the COVID-19 pandemic around the topics of administration, clinical education, and teaching. 8 groups of 6-9 educators met for 8 1-hour sessions over 4 months. The facilitator of each session rotated among the group members.Participants completed a survey at the end of the 4 months about their experiences. An electronicQualtrics survey was provided to participants as a follow up to their experience in the pilot project. The study consisted of three parts. Part one included seven questions collecting demographic information about the participants. Part two included participant perceptions about the structure of the communities. Participants were asked about the primary reason for joining the communities and the primary outcome of the community as well as 8 questions regarding their experience with regard to the overall perceptions (also one attendance and open ended participation. Part three included questions regarding the participants’ network connections. Individuals did not have to provide an answer to every question on the survey. The study was approved through the IRB at Northland Community and Technical College and University of Nebraska Medical Center. The survey was sent to all 61 participants of the teaching and networking communities on October 24, 2021 via an email invitation. Dillman’s Survey Design method was used to promote survey responses including a pre-announcement followed by the survey and up to three reminders for non-respondents. Data was collected from October 24, 2021-November 5, 2021.Results/Outcomes:There were 61 participants across eight communities and 45 (73.8%) completed the questionnaire. Five were eliminated due to an incomplete survey response. The final response rate was 66%.Results were collapsed to a 2 categories for agreement and disagreement. 35/41 attended more than half of the scheduled sessions.Nearly all the educators (82.1%) reported having opportunity to resolve an issue currently impacting their role. There was high agreement that participants’ voices and ideas were heard during the sessions (92.5%), the environment was safe and encouraging (92.5%) and 87.5% reported the communication within their community was productive.There was high agreement (92.5%) the meeting frequency and length were appropriate, the guidelines for the meetings were clear and understandable (84%), and facilitators reported a good understanding of their role (81.6%).The two highly ranked reasons for initial participation were to generate new ideas and collaboration. At the end of the program the primary outcomes from participating included generating new ideas, collaboration, with additional benefits of receiving support through broadening their network and developing relationships.92.5% reported they would participate in future teaching and networking communities.Conclusions:The virtual CoP was effective in bringing PTA Educators together in productive and meaningful ways. There was major disruption to educational delivery requiring cohesive problem solving around clinical education, teaching methods and administration. In addition, the supportive nature of the community lead to cohesion and high attendance at the voluntary after-work-day event when personal lives were also disrupted.The outcomes from participating were very similar to the highly ranked primary reasons for participating, which shows the participation goals were reached with this virtual network project. A majority of the participants indicated that they would participate in future teaching & networking communities. These results will assist with future virtual community of practice model designs.Clinical relevance:Small virtual communities of practice built on a shared topic can be an effective method for PTA educators to connect. Replication of this virtual community structure could translate to similar outcomes within other educator subsets across the spectrum of physical therapy education; such as clinical educators.References:1. Grunspan DZ, Holt EA, Keenan SM. Instructional Communities of Practice during COVID-19:Social Networks and Their Implications for Resilience. J Microbiol Biol Educ. 2021;22(1):22.1.44.2. Gachago D, Cruz L, Belford C, et al. Third places: Cultivating Mobile Communities of Practice in the Global South. The international journal for academic development. 2021;26:335-346.3. Bolisani E, Fedelim M, DeMarchi V, Bierema L, Together we win: Communities of practice to face the covid crisis in higher education. Proc. Int. Conf. Intell. Capital., Knowl. Manage. Org. Learn., ICICKM ; 2020-October:72-79, 2020.4. Boada DA. Cultivating an online teacher community of practice around the instructional conversation pedagogy: a social network analysis. Educational technology research and development. 2021;2022;70:289-319.5. Roussel D, Gordon PR, Wagner JM, Bardack M, Sardesai MG, Colbert-Getz JM. The learning community faculty experience: how longitudinal relationships with learners enhance work meaning. Perspectives on medical education. 2020;9:343-349.6. Becker BJ, Sayles H, Woehler M, Rost T, Willett GM. An Investigation of Professional Networks and Scholarly Productivity of Early Career Physical Therapy Faculty. Journal of Physical Therapy Education (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins). 2019;33(2):94-102. Accessed April 9, 2021. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edo&AN=148484614&site=eds-live7. Niehaus E, O’Meara K. Invisible but Essential: The Role of Professional Networks in Promoting Faculty Agency in Career Advancement. Innovative Higher Education. 2015;40(2):159-171. doi:10.1007/s10755-014-9302-78. Benbow RJ, Lee C. Teaching-focused social networks among college faculty: Exploring conditions for the development of social capital. Higher Education. 2019;78(1):67-89.9. Becker, Betsy J. PT, DPT, PhD; Shope, Ron PhD; Willett, Gilbert PT, MS, PhD; Von Essen, Susanna MD, MPH; Kennel, Victoria PhD Early Career Physical Therapist Faculty Connecting With Others for Scholarly Activity: A Grounded Theory Study, Journal of Physical Therapy Education: March 2021 - Volume 35 - Issue 1 - p 3-11 doi: 10.1097/JTE.0000000000000161- Conference: Educational Leadership Conference of the American Physical Therapy Association
-
Deleted
Participant Perception of a Virtual Community of Practice for PTA Educators .pdf -
Deleted
Poster Participant Perception of a Virtual Community of Practice for PTA Educators .pdf -
Added
Better Together Participant Perception of a Virtual Community of Practice for PTA Educators Final.pdf -
Published
-
Updated
Version 2
published-
Created
-
Deleted
Better Together Participant Perception of a Virtual Community of Practice for PTA Educators Final.pdf -
Added
Abstract ELC 2023 Better Together Participant Perception of a Virtual Community of Practice for PTA Educators.pdf -
Added
Poster ELC 2023 Final.pdf -
Published
-
Updated Source, Description Show ChangesSourceDescription
- 2023 Educational Leadership Conference of the American Physical Therapy Association
- The purpose of our project was to determine effectiveness of a large scale virtual community of practice (CoP) program created just-in-time to build networks and solve problems from the major disruption to PTA education during the COVID pandemic.
Conference: Educational Leadership Conference of the American Physical Therapy Association
-
Renamed Creator Jennifer Jewell Show Changes
Jennifer Jewell, Penn State Shenango- Jennifer Jewell
-
Renamed Creator Justin Berry Show Changes
Justin Berry, Northland Community and Technical College- Justin Berry
-
Renamed Creator Betsy J. Becker Show Changes
Betsy J. Becker, University of Nebraska Medical Center- Betsy J. Becker
-
Renamed Creator Lisa L. Stejskal Show Changes
Lisa L. Stejskal, Mount Wachusett Community College- Lisa L. Stejskal
-
Renamed Creator Beverly A. Labosky Show Changes
Beverly A. Labosky, Montgomery County Community College- Beverly A. Labosky
-
Renamed Creator Karen Browning Show Changes
Karen Browning, Central New Mexico Community College- Karen Browning
-
Updated Creator Beverly A. Labosky
-
Updated Creator Karen Browning
-
Updated