Perceived faculty development needs of physical therapy adjuncts: a comparison study

Abstract Background Faculty development needs to consider the perceived needs of the teachers it serves. However, little is known about the faculty development needs of physical therapy adjuncts (casuals, contingent, non-tenured, sessional). Objectives The aim of this study was to compare the highest-rated faculty development needs identified by physical therapy adjuncts who teach only in the classroom (‘classroom adjuncts’) to those who only teach in clinical placements (‘clinical adjuncts’). Methods Using a cross-sectional, web-based survey, perceived faculty development needs were compared among classroom adjuncts (n = 14) and clinical adjuncts (n = 18) using a Likert scale. Analysis included identifying highest-rated needs (i.e., > 75% agreement) for each group and t-tests to determine if highest-rated needs were significantly different between groups. Results Six of the highest-rated needs of classroom adjuncts were, not surprisingly, focused on needs within the classroom. Four of the highest-rated needs of clinical adjuncts were specific to this group and three were significantly different from classroom adjuncts – mentoring students and peers, learning how to deal with common challenges within teaching, (e.g., diversity, dishonesty, disability and struggling students), and using simulation and skills training. Highest-rated needs of clinical adjuncts appeared to be focused on effective communication with diverse students and how to build a co-operative learning environment that facilitates the students’ own initiatives to learn. Conclusions Faculty development should address context-specific perceived needs to support physical therapy adjuncts.