GPA and Health Educator Success: Do Grades Really Matter?

1. GPA and Health Educator Success: Do Grades Really Matter? • Susan M. Radius,PhD, MCHES • Professor & Program Director • Meghan M. Bailey, MS, CHES • Lecturer & Internship Supervisor • Theresa K. Jackson, PhD, MPH, CHES • Public Health Scientist • Army Institute of Public Health American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance National Convention Session 331 Charlotte, NC Thursday, April 25, 2013

2. Disclosures Susan M. Radius, PhD, MCHES Meghan M. Bailey, MS, CHES Theresa K. Jackson, PhD, MPH, CHES • The following personal financial relationships with commercial interests relevant to this presentation existed during the past 12 months: • No relationships to disclose

3. Purpose • To explore the relationship between students’ academic performance and internship outcomes • To evaluate extent to which students are gaining exposure to selected NCHEC competencies • To guide recommendations for undergraduate curricula and internship programs

4. Background (N=133)

5. Background

6. Internship Sites

7. Selected Courses

8. Methods

9. Instrumentation • Evaluations • Midterm & Final • 53 questions related to professionalism, personal attributes, organization skills, and communication skills • Two indicators assigned for each NCHEC competency

11. Analyses of Evaluation Indicators • Cumulative GPA • Majors’ course grades

12. Results

13. Cumulative GPA

14. Health Care in the US (207) • No statistically significant associations

15. Curriculum & Planning (315)

16. Instructional Methods in Health Education (425)

17. Organization, Implementation, and Management of Health Education Programs (430)

18. Measurement & Evaluation in Health Education (432)

19. Overview: All Courses and Cumulative GPA

20. Indicator by GPA impact (#times p<05)

21. Course by GPA Impact (#times p<05)

22. Indicators Unrelated (p>05) to GPA or Class • I. Access, use, and evaluate reliable health resources • II. Uses knowledge of learning styles • III. Demonstrates teaching skills • VI. Knows how and where to refer clients • VII. Demonstrates culture, gender, and racial sensitivity • Would you consider hiring?

23. Limitations

24. Internship Possibilities • Agency supervisors • Generous evaluators • Biased; self-fulfilling prophecy • Misinterpret evaluation items • Different interpretations of indicators across diverse sites • Students • Self-select placements in areas of strength • Maturity • Self-select major

25. Program Possibilities • Faculty • Number of course instructors • Easy vs. more rigorous graders • Courses • Upper-level vs. lower-level abilities • Cumulative GPA includes transferred grades

26. Instrumentation • Not all NCHEC competencies represented on instrument • Instrument inconsistent in ability to capture qualities of interest • Selected NCHEC indicators may reflect other or >1 competency

27. Implications

28. General Implications • Not all courses relate to success in internship measures • Not all competencies relate to success in courses • Despite quantity of significant correlations, no strong correlations emerged

29. Professional & Academic Implications • Professionals & Agencies • Agencies should continue to evaluate transcripts as part of the hiring process in health education. • Academic Institutions • Professional preparation programs may need to adapt to address NCHEC competencies in a practical way. • Internship experiences should complement other health education experiences – including the classroom.

30. Take Home Messages • Share evaluation with preceptors, faculty colleagues and students • Consider internship assessment tools that are more reflective of NCHEC • Cultivate preceptor understanding of program, NCHEC, etc. • Communicate to students that doing well can help to excel as health educator • Communicate to students that grades are NOT everything • Encourage faculty to incorporate NCHEC-related activities in coursework

31. Dr. Susan Radius Professor and Program Director sradius@towson.edu Meghan Bailey Lecturer mbailey@towson.edu Dr. Theresa Jackson Public Health Scientist US Army For more information, please visit: http://www.towson.edu/healthscience/healthed/internships/