An investigation into student outcomes and experiences following a physiotherapy curriculum redesign

Within the cardiovascular-respiratory specialism of Physiotherapy, practice has moved from being situated predominantly in the acute hospital setting to community rehabilitation and long-term management. Occurring at a time when there have been extraordinary developments in new technologies applied to teaching and learning, these seismic changes have created fresh challenges for the delivery of undergraduate Physiotherapy programmes. Research has shown that the inclusion of technologies alone within curricula does not improve learning; and that pedagogic decisions should drive the choice of technology. It has also been shown that appropriately selected learning technologies can improve student engagement and experience. However, few studies have investigated the impact of a range of learning technologies on both learning outcome and student experience so there are some important knowledge gaps in this connection. The study investigated the impact of a range of teaching approaches, including bespoke video-based and online resources, in an undergraduate cardiovascular-respiratory Physiotherapy module over two consecutive academic years. A mixed -methods, crossover study design study was developed to examine student learning outcomes, learning experiences and perceptions of clinical ability. A novel visual thematic analysis method applied to focus groups was developed. This study showed that the module redesign and the inclusion of range of learning technologies led to improvements in student knowledge, understanding and clinical reasoning, when compared to the other specialism modules; self-assessment scores did not show any relationship with assessed measures, suggesting the need for greater use of facilitated debrief and reflection on and in-action; the redesign and the inclusion of learning technologies impacted positively on the student experience, with variety being identified as an important factor; and visual resources and simulation were seen by students as having the greatest potential to aid application of learning to clinical practice. Implications of the findings are considered for learning and teaching approaches that could better develop clinical reasoning, as well as for future work in assessment and self-assessment of clinical ability. Directions for future research are suggested.