Competence assessment rubric in the Physiotherapy Practicum

Noa Lola Martiáñez-Ramírez; Consolación Pineda-Galán; María Rodríguez-Bailón; Rita-Pilar Romero-Galisteo

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0264120

Competence assessment rubric in the Physiotherapy Practicum

PLoS One. 2022 Feb 25;17(2):e0264120. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264120. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Noa Lola Martiáñez-Ramírez¹, Consolación Pineda-Galán², María Rodríguez-Bailón², Rita-Pilar Romero-Galisteo²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physiotherapy, La Salle Higher Education Center, Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
² Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Málaga, Málaga, Spain.

Abstract

Introduction: Competence-based learning must be integrated into the practical development of Physiotherapy. Teamwork, interpersonal relations, analytical skills or critical/clinical thinking are some examples of internationally recommended competences in this kind of university studies. Therefore, there is a need to evaluate this learning in Physiotherapy through valid tools that facilitate this task.

Objective: To analyze the psychometric properties according to competences in Clinical Practices (RECOPC-FIS II) in order to assess 14 transversal or universal competences of under-graduate students in the Physiotherapy degree.

Methods: A validation study was conducted with 197 students in the 3rd and 4th year of the Physiotherapy degree and 202 clinical tutors who assessed these students using the RECOPC-FIS II. Different psychometric properties were analyzed: factor structure, internal consistency and sensitivity to change.

Results: The RECOPC-FIS II has a high internal consistency. Its 14 items saturate in a single factor. Regarding the sensitivity to change, the rubric showed higher scores in the Practicum of the 4th year with respect to that of the 3rd year, reaching significant differences in all of them.

Conclusion: The RECOPC-FIS II is a valid and reliable instrument to assess the transversal competencies of undergraduate students of Physiotherapy during their clinical practice. Therefore, it is intended to facilitate the acquisition of essential skills for the development of their professional career. The flexibility of this tool would allow its adaptation to other health science courses.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Clinical Competence*
Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate*
Female
Humans
Learning*
Male
Physical Therapy Modalities / education*
Psychometrics
Students, Nursing*
Thinking*

Grants and funding

CPG,RPRG,MRB,NMR. This work was supported by the University of Málaga from an Educational Innovation Project with title: Evaluation rubric for competency-based interventions and training program for clinical tutors in the Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy Practicum. Code: PIE17-008. This work also received financial support from University of Málaga.