Understanding how motor skills are learned influences how one teaches effective motor skill attainment. Educators must ask, "Does repetitive practice of the same task make for better performance or does contextual variability (random practice) offer some benefit when learning motor skills?" Studies on the effects of Contextual Interference may…

The academic portfolio provides a means for faculty to organize, present and reflect on their accomplishments in the areas of teaching, scholarship and service. Since the portfolio represents faculty accomplishments in these key areas it may be used to support an application for promotion, tenure or merit reviews. Given this, it is important to…

One learning strategy that, at present, has not been widely used in graduate Physical Therapy education is "video based cases". The use of visually unfolding case-base experience provides students a unique opportunity to experience real patient scenarios in their classroom environment. The purpose of this paper is to provide data on student…

Purpose: Professional health science educational programs have utilized numerous learning strategies including journals, practice patterns, problem-based learning (PBL), case-studies, and hypothesis-oriented algorithm for clinicians (HOAC) (Shepard et al., 2002). While, these learning strategies have found a place in the health science educational…

The work of a professor is the "scholarship of teaching" (Boyer, 1990). The strength of the teaching and learning environment is fostered by a dynamic interplay between the mentor (scholar) and the mentee (student). Boyer (1990) suggests that in order to be a scholar, one must have "a recognition that knowledge is acquired through research,…

Background: Health science programs can be demanding and difficult for many students, leading to high levels of stress. High levels of stress can have a negative effect on students and subsequently the practicing clinician. Research suggests that yoga, humor, and reading are simple, effective methods to help reduce stress. To date no research…

Academicians are always trying to answer the question, "What is the most effective way to teach?" Finding the answer to this question is no easy task but recognizing that each teachable moment must be shaped based upon the learner, task, and the environment enable the academician to consider viable teaching strategies that would promote the…

Effective mentorship is demonstrated in a variety of venues. Good mentors lead students on a journey that forever changes the ways in which they think and act, and consists of different and diverse experiences. Acknowledging faculty beliefs regarding mentorship and instruction is important to understanding why mentors select and implement specific…