Doctoral degree distance education

Background and Purpose. The nontraditional or distance learning model gained considerable attention in the latter half of the 20th century. Through a program of independent study projects, competencies, and thesis or dissertation completion, health care professionals recently have been able to engage in full-time clinical practice while concurrently pursuing further education. The full-time clinician who obtains a postprofessional (advanced) degree via distance education, therefore, has the potential to bridge the gap between clinical professionals and full-time faculty members provided that Ms education is accepted by those educated in more traditional ways. This study examined the marketability of physical therapists with additional advanced degree training earned through distance education within the academic environment. Methods. Survey questionnaires were mailed to the program directors of all accredited physical therapist education programs in the United States and Puerto Rico. Type of institution hiring faculty, area of academic study, and extent of distance education within a curriculum were considered major variables. Results. Of the 174 program directors surveyed, 89 (51%) responded. Twenty-two respondents (25%) reported that at least one faculty member was in the process of completing a postprofessional degree through distance education. Full courses offered through distance education were being considered by 41 (46%) of physical therapist programs, and 16 (18%) were considering a full-degree program through distance education. Faculty candidates educated through traditional programs were viewed by respondents as more qualified than faculty candidates educated through distance means. In addition, faculty candidates with degrees in education, business administration, and public health/policy earned through distance education were viewed more favorably than those with distance-earned degrees in clinical or basic science. Respondents working for nonresearch institutions viewed physical therapists with distance-earned advanced degrees more favorably than did those working in research institutions. Seventy-five percent of recruitment efforts focused on individuals with advanced degrees in clinical or basic science. Conclusion. Despite the positive level of acceptability for faculty candidates with advanced distance-earned degrees in education, business administration, or public health/policy, 75% of the current and anticipated greatest human resources needs for physical therapist programs (eg, basic science and clinical science) were the 2 fields of study least likely to be favorably received if completed through distance education.

Key Words: Distance education, Distance learning model, Marketability, Physical therapy education, Postprofessional degree.

INTRODUCTION

"Distance education" is a term used to describe nontraditional models of education that vary from the traditional didactic approach of an instructor providing a lecture to a group of students within the same room. Such nontraditional models include correspondence study where a student completes a series of independent study projects in lieu of classroom time, tele-education where a group of students are lectured to by an off-site instructor using two-way video teleconferencing, computerized online education where students read required course work and complete online tests or course competencies, and hybrid models that incorporate various aspects of traditional and nontraditional formats. Distance learning models gained considerable attention in the latter half of the 20th century. Through a program of independent study, competencies, and thesis or dissertation completion, health care professionals have been afforded new options for engaging in full-time clinical practice while concurrently pursuing further education.

The focus of this study was to examine the marketability of physical therapists with postprofessional (advanced) degrees earned through distance education in various fields of study among program directors of physical therapist education programs. For the purposes of this study, distance education was defined as a degree program with no, or limited, onsite campus time required, conducted primarily through guided independent study toward the completion of course work and thesis or dissertation. Video teleconferencing may be used for teacher and student consultation or for thesis or dissertation defense. Programs provided in a lecture or laboratory format off site from the main campus or transmitted via video teleconferencing technology were not considered distance education unless independent study was the primary educational format of the course or degree.

By limiting scope to marketability within the academic environment, this study attempted to answer 5 questions: (1) Do differences exist in perceived utility of faculty candidates with postprofessional degrees earned through distance education versus traditionally educated (on-site) counterparts? (2) Are there between-field-of-study differences in perceived qualification of faculty candidates with postprofessional degrees earned through distance education? (3) Do perceptions of physical therapist program directors at research institutions differ from those at nonresearch institutions regarding perceived utility of faculty candidates with postprofessional (advanced) degrees earned through distance education versus on-site counterparts? (4) Do perceptions of physical therapist program directors at research institutions differ from those at nonresearch institutions regarding differences in qualification of distance-educated faculty candidates with postprofessional degrees in various fields of study? and (5) Are the current and anticipated human resource needs of program directors of physical therapist education programs consistent with the types of distance-earned degrees that respondents perceived as most valuable?

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Although the site and date of the first distance-learning program is unknown, one of the first references to distance learning in the United States appeared in the Boston Gazette on March 20, 1728, offering a correspondence course in shorthand.1 Single courses offered via distance methods eventually grew into distance education degree-granting programs awarding degrees ranging from associate through doctoral level and focusing on a variety of areas of concentration such as education, psychology, business, and public health. By 1991, an estimated 4,000,000 Americans annually participated in some form of distance education.1

As early as 1936, the Association of Urban Universities began to take an interest in comparing test scores between college students taught through classroom instruction and those taught through correspondence study. Sorenson2 concluded that there was no difference between the 2 groups' scores, citing a similar study3 conducted several years earlier in support of his results. In 1973, a University of Nebraska meta-analytic study of 37 subject studies examined outcomes between on-site and correspondence education students. This study showed no statistically significant differences between the 2 groups.4

In recent years, electronic and information technology has become more affordable for and accessible by the general population as well as by educational institutions. Increasing numbers of Internet-capable computers, videocassette recorders, and digital videodisk players in American homes translate into new possibilities for didactic instruction using distance education. A 1991 meta-analysis of 63 subject studies examining outcomes regarding on-site education versus video teleconferencing found no significant differences between the 2 groups.5 A 1992 study of 3,742 students in 40 televised courses at the University of Maine at Augusta found that distance learners performed above average and similar to their on-site counterparts in terms of final course grade.6 A recent study conducted by researchers at North Carolina State University suggested that psychological, sociodemographic, and organizational factors, including delivery strategy, had no effect on academic performance.7

Studies examining the effectiveness of teaching clinical courses via distance education have been equally positive. In 1957, Parsons, in the Journal of Educational Psychology, compared correspondence study with classroom instruction in a child development course and found "no advantage for any one procedure."8(p39) More recently, a 1995 study of 23 nursing students who had completed the first clinical nursing course offered via distance education by Memorial University of Newfoundland found that the nursing students were able to meet course objectives just as well as their on-site counterparts.9 A similar study conducted at Western Kentucky University concluded that off-campus nursing students achieved higher course grades than their on-site counterparts.10