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Further, she asserted that as higher education has focused on increased accountability for ensuring that student learning meets outcomes, the emphasis on assessment has created an entire industry of software products and administrative positions. “I can attest that we are drowning in processes,” she said.
As for making decisions about what to include or leave out of the curriculum, Jensen pointed to the growing population of adults over age 65. When students think about a career path and specialization, she said, “very few raise their hand and say, ‘I can’t wait to work with older adults,’ even though that will be the reality for many of them.” Her question: “Should an indicator of excellence in physical therapy education include evidence in preparing all learners to meet the needs of an aging population?”
A Lifetime of Learning
Learning environments generally focus on extrinsic motivation, Jensen asserted: normative reward-punishment structures such as “grades, passing the next exam, and getting the best clinical experience.” But intrinsic motivation is necessary for deep learning, positive well-being, and higher creativity and engagement. Jensen said, “We need to remember that education is not the filling of the bucket but the lighting of a fire” that intrinsically motivates a student to continue to learn.
And continuing to learn is essential in the health professions. “Given rapidly developing knowledge coupled with the complexity of health systems, we cannot keep pace with everything that needs to be in professional education,” Jensen said. “We need to prepare learners to become expert learners who are building a foundation for future learning.”
Education Research
The 2017 “National Study of Excellence and Innovation in Physical Therapist Education” by Jensen and colleagues, published in PTJ: Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Journal, included nine action items that identify potential areas where education research is needed. Jensen noted that four of them “address urgent health needs and providing grounding for programmatic research:
• Develop a continuum of professional performance expectations.
• Focus curriculum content on societal needs for physical therapist practice.
• Devote significant resources to enhance diversity in the profession.
• Educate students to become moral agents as health care practitioners.
“If we are serious about challenging social injustices,” Jensen said, “then we need education researchers who understand and apply critical theory that can examine, expose, and challenge inequities that can in turn be a powerful voice for change.” ■