Date of Award

Fall 12-1-2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Teaching and Learning

Abstract

The development of a professional identity is a crucial component of health professions’ education programs and aids in interprofessional collaboration, communication, efficiency, and patient outcomes. Yet, limited research on the development of the individual as a component of professional identity development exists. The use of curricular strategies rooted in the self-authorship theory can close this gap in the development of a professional identity. Self-authorship is a developmental continuum whereby individuals move from following external formulas to building an internal foundation where they make meaning and integrate beliefs into how they think and act. This study aimed to investigate the self-authorship levels and professional identity of professional-level athletic training students. A concurrent mixed-methods approach was used consisting of an online survey using the Self-Authorship Questionnaire Version 2 (SAQV2) and follow-up semi-structured interview. The SAQV2 includes four separate constructs of situational coping, interpersonal leadership, self-efficacy, knowledge creation and an overall score. Separate one-way ANOVAS on ranks were used to investigate significant differences between scores on the SAQV2 and student demographic characteristics of age (traditional master’s students = 25 years old or younger, nontraditional master’s students = 26 years-old and older), gender identity (male or female), and ethnicity (White or Person of Color). A consensual qualitative research (CQR) approach was used to analyze the participant’s responses to the semi-structured interview questions. A total of 104 participants completed the survey (age = 14 years-old, women = 78, men = 24, transgender = 2, White = 82, Person of Color = 22). The overall SAQV2 score was 113.6 out of 135 indicating high levels of self-authorship. Analysis of the survey indicated significant results in age (p = .005) and SAQV2 scores in which younger students scored higher than older students. There were significant iv differences in interpersonal leadership between race and ethnicity groups (p = .047) where White students scored higher than Non-white students. There were 12 participants who completed the semi-structured interview. The qualitative analysis of the interviews identified three domains: 1. developing trust, 2. growing/maintaining confidence, and 3. creating identity. Of these domains there were 16 categories encompassing the responses from students. By synthesizing data from the quantitative and qualitative data, a curricular design model was constructed for professional-level athletic training students, which was built using the self authorship characteristics and strategies identified by participants to curate effective learning activities and help develop their professional identity.

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