An analysis of entry‐level postgraduate students’ readiness for student‐centred, Masters Level learning

Abstract

Allied health professionals have an obligation, through their rules of professional conduct, to maintain currency of practice and to demonstrate active continuous professional development (CPD). Many therapists choose postgraduate (M-Level) studies as part of their ongoing CPD activity. Assuming that practitioner maturity and autonomy can be transferred to educational contexts, many M-Level courses adopt a student-centred approach to their learning and teaching activities. This article reports the results of a learning profile exercise on a group of entry postgraduate students. The results suggest that some students have learning profiles incompatible with direct transition into a student-centred, M-Level learning environment. Learning profiles appear to reflect routes to professional qualification, namely degree vs. graduate diploma. The article will consider the possible learning support needs of postgraduate learners.