Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Committee Chair

Douglas Eury

Abstract

This study was designed to examine the progression of Board of Certification (BOC) Domain content within athletic training courses and the introduction of Domain content within the curriculum of the Athletic Training Education Program (ATEP) on first-time pass rate of the BOC exam for 2010 graduates. The researcher also gauged the perceptions of athletic training education program directors and instructional faculty regarding importance of specific ATEP characteristics on preparing students for success on the BOC examination.

Invited study subjects included all Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Educated accredited ATEP directors and associated instructional faculty. Participants were e-mailed a study introduction and link to the survey. The researcher-developed survey gathered data outlining program specifics, BOC examination results, perceptions of ATEP characteristics, and institutional demographics. Pearson Product correlation analyses were utilized to determine relationships between school units where Domains were introduced and 1) percentage first-time success on the BOC and 2) average individual Domain score. Simultaneous Multiple Regression Analysis was applied to the data to identify optimal timing of introduction of each Domain. Strength of perceptions among respondents was established utilizing Chi square analysis Goodness of Fit, and Kendall's W. Pearson Product correlation analyses were also utilized to determine relationships between the independent variables of 1) ranking of importance of ATEP components on first-time success on the BOC and 2) successful implementation of ATEP components in the institution's ATEP with the dependent variables of 1) percentage first-time success on the BOC and 2) average individual Domain score. Multiple Step-Wise Forward Regressions were then applied to the significant factors. All qualitative responses provided in the survey data were coded utilizing an interpretive method of data coding. Overall descriptive statistics were computed on all survey items.

With the results of this study, it was established that neither the sequence nor timing of Domain content had a measurable influence on first-time success on the BOC examination with correlations and multiple regressions demonstrating no significant results. The highest ranked ATEP component in regard to importance on first-time BOC success and successful implementation was Learning Over Time with a mode of "strongly agree" for each. The ranking of Qualifications of Instructors demonstrated predictive power for overall first-time pass percent on the BOC. Qualification of Instructors, Ratio of Instructors to Students, Sequencing of Content within Courses, and Sequencing of Courses each correlated positively to at least 1 of the average Domain scores. These findings suggest that perceptions of importance of ATEP components and actual implementation of ATEP components are more influential on BOC success than sequence or timing of Domain content.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Share

COinS