Examining health professional educators' adoption of learning-centered pedagogy and instructional technologies

This mixed-methods study explored the extent to which health professions educators use instructional technologies and learning-centered pedagogical methods. Within the health professions, there is a lack of data on the pedagogical methods used by health professions educators within the classroom. The purpose of this study was to examine and explore the use of learner centered pedagogical methods and the use and acceptance of instructional technologies in a health sciences university in order to plan and implement appropriate professional development. Questionnaires based on Technological, Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and Unified Theory of Use and Acceptance of Technology (UTAUT) were sent to educators at a health professions' school at a large medical university. The quantitative data was comprised of 46 responses. Following the questionnaires, requests for interviews were sent out to the same population. Pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression were used to analyze the quantitative data. Five participants were interviewed for the qualitative part of the study, and the data were hand-coded by the researcher and auto-coded by NVivo analyzing software. Results revealed that most educators incorporate some degree of a learning-centered pedagogy and some degree of instructional technology in their classrooms, although to varying levels. PowerPoint was the most often used technology, followed by Internet web pages. Instructional technology that was compatible with current practices and that increased instructor productivity was more likely to lead to behavioral intention to use technology. In this study, intention to use technology did not equate to actual technology use, although more refinement of measuring "actual use" would benefit future studies. When TPACK results were compared to UTAUT results, there were statistically significant correlations between many of the constructs. A larger, multiple-center study would add more information regarding the pedagogical practices and use of instructional technologies by health professions' educators, but this study adds to a limited body of knowledge on this topic. The use of ongoing professional development and increased focus on pedagogy and instructional technologies by the university might improve the learning environment in a body of students that are headed into the world of patient care.Ed.D., Educational Leadership and Management -- Drexel University, 201