An assessment of learning styles among undergraduate athletic training students.

OBJECTIVE: Increased attention has been directed toward assessing and improving academic quality in athletic training education. The educational process has been assessed from a global level, but little is known about how athletic training students learn. The purpose of this investigation was to assess the learning styles of undergraduate athletic training students. DESIGN AND SETTING: Undergraduate students enrolled in a Committee on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP)-accredited athletic training education program completed a learning styles inventory during a regularly scheduled athletic training class at the start of the spring semester. SUBJECTS: Twenty-seven student athletic trainers (age range, 19-30 yrs, mean age = 20.5 yrs) served as subjects. Sixteen subjects (7 male, 9 female) were in the first year of this 3-year program. Eleven subjects (7 male, 4 female) were second-year students. MEASUREMENTS: Learning style was assessed using the Productivity Environmental Preference Survey. RESULTS: Parametric and nonparametric one-way analyses of variance for each learning subscale by sex and by year in program revealed significant differences (P < .05) in light preferences for male and female students. There were also significant differences (P < .05) between first-and second-year students in preferences for afternoon learning activities. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that undergraduate athletic training students function best as leamers in a well-lit leaming environment. The significance of aftemoon as the preferred time for learning reinforces the importance of the clinical setting in the introduction and mastery of skills. Athletic training educators and clinical instructors can use these results as they examine their teaching strategies and educational environments.

Physical activity and osteoporotic fracture among older women.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the importance of physical activity in the occurrence of osteoporotic fracture and to examine the impact of exercise frequency on osteoporotic fracture among a national sample of women aged 50 years and older. DESIGN AND SETTING: This study involved female participants in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), Phase 1. SUBJECTS: The sample consisted of 2,325 women aged 50 years and older who were interviewed for Phase 1 of NHANES III. MEASUREMENTS: Predictor variables that were examined in this study included heredity, age, race, body mass index, physical activity, smoking status, alcohol use, and dairy product intake. Multivariate analysis was conducted. RESULTS: Race, age, body mass index, and inactivity were significant risk factors Predicting the occurrence of osteoporotic fracture. CONCLUSIONS: Athletic trainers in clinical settings are in an ideal position to educate female patients about risk factors for osteoporotic fracture. The clinical athletic trainer may incorporate balance training, generalized strengthening, and other fall-prevention activities into rehabilitation programs in order to help prevent osteoporotic injuries.

Predictors of Success on the NATABOC Certification Examination.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the degree to which a selected number of variables could predict success on the first attempt at the National Athletic Trainers' Association Board of Certification Examination. DESIGN AND SETTING: Data were obtained from the student records of subjects who were enrolled in the same undergraduate athletic training education program for a minimum of two years, maintained a minimum GPA of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale, and had taken the National Athletic Trainers' Association Board of Certification Examination. A telephone survey of the subjects was used to supplement these records. SUBJECTS: Fifty-two subjects (38 male, 14 female) who had been enrolled for a mean of seven semesters (+/-2.57) participated in this study. Subjects maintained a mean overall GPA of 3.27 (+/- 0.39), with an athletic training mean GPA of 3.34 (+/-0.43) and an academic minor mean GPA of 2.91 (+/-0.46). The mean ACT composite score was 18 (+/-4.02). MEASUREMENTS: Subjects sat for the National Athletic Trainers' Association Board of Certification Examination. Examination passing status, rather than subjects' scores on individual sections, was used in the analysis. RESULTS: Analysis using forward multiple linear regression indicated that no single independent variable predicted examination success. However, a strong interrelationship was present between several of the independent variables. Multiple discriminant analysis was used to determine the nature and strength of these interrelationships. A composite set of variables was formed to include overall academic GPA, athletic training GPA, academic minor GPA, ACT composite score, and number of semesters of university enrollment. This composite set explained 42% of the variance in predicting successful completion of the entire examination on the first attempt. The predictive power of the composite set greatly decreased after the first examination attempt. CONCLUSIONS: Academic variables are the strongest predictors of first-time success on the overall National Athletic Trainers' Association Board of Certification Examination and its component sections.