Critical Thinking Skills for Doctor of Audiology Students
Location
LSU Health Sciences Center - New Orleans
Event Website
https://alliedhealth.lsuhsc.edu/admin/sahpresearchday.aspx
Document Type
Event
Start Date
8-4-2024 2:20 PM
End Date
8-4-2024 2:35 PM
Description
Purpose: Critical thinking is a crucial component of health care, and its impor tance has been recognized
in training medical professionals. This study reports critical thinking skills for entering doctor of audiology
(AuD) students and the trajectory of the change in critical thinking skills measured 2 times over a period
of 3 years.
Method: This longitudinal, descriptive, and exploratory design was implemented for programmatic
review. Critical thinking skills were measured using the Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT; Insight
Assessment) upon entering the pro gram and compared to measurements during the final month of
academic cour sework. Descriptive statistics, exploratory analyses of the HSRT scores among cohorts,
the relationship of the HSRT to the graduate record examinations (GREs), and changes in the HSRT
over time using a repeated measures multi variate analysis of variance were conducted.
Results: There were no significant differences in critical thinking skills between any of the cohort years.
There was a significant correlation between the GRE verbal scores and OVERALL HSRT. Improvements
in critical thinking skills were found between the time the students entered the graduate program and
their final academic semester. Greater gains were reported for students who initially scored below the
50th percentile on the OVERALL HSRT.
Conclusions: This program review showed improvement in the critical thinking skills of AuD students
during their academic training program. Information regarding critical thinking skills may be useful for
programs to monitor students’ clinical thinking skills and possibly include clinical and didactical activities
to promote critical thinking skills.
Recommended Citation
Majoue, Megan; Guidry, Megan; and Hurley, Annette, "Critical Thinking Skills for Doctor of Audiology Students" (2024). School of Allied Health Professions Research Day. 22.
https://digitalscholar.lsuhsc.edu/ahrd/2024/2024/22
Critical Thinking Skills for Doctor of Audiology Students
LSU Health Sciences Center - New Orleans
Purpose: Critical thinking is a crucial component of health care, and its impor tance has been recognized
in training medical professionals. This study reports critical thinking skills for entering doctor of audiology
(AuD) students and the trajectory of the change in critical thinking skills measured 2 times over a period
of 3 years.
Method: This longitudinal, descriptive, and exploratory design was implemented for programmatic
review. Critical thinking skills were measured using the Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT; Insight
Assessment) upon entering the pro gram and compared to measurements during the final month of
academic cour sework. Descriptive statistics, exploratory analyses of the HSRT scores among cohorts,
the relationship of the HSRT to the graduate record examinations (GREs), and changes in the HSRT
over time using a repeated measures multi variate analysis of variance were conducted.
Results: There were no significant differences in critical thinking skills between any of the cohort years.
There was a significant correlation between the GRE verbal scores and OVERALL HSRT. Improvements
in critical thinking skills were found between the time the students entered the graduate program and
their final academic semester. Greater gains were reported for students who initially scored below the
50th percentile on the OVERALL HSRT.
Conclusions: This program review showed improvement in the critical thinking skills of AuD students
during their academic training program. Information regarding critical thinking skills may be useful for
programs to monitor students’ clinical thinking skills and possibly include clinical and didactical activities
to promote critical thinking skills.
https://digitalscholar.lsuhsc.edu/ahrd/2024/2024/22