What Traits Make for an Effective Athletic Training Educator and Mentor?
Column Editor's Note:
A student's athletic training education often begins in the academic classroom, thus we must ask the question, “What traits make for an effective athletic training educator?” There is information available in the literature related to the quality of higher education faculty; however, this literature is limited in that the students' voices are heard, but typically through the eyes of the researcher who may or may not have his/her own agenda or bias. To address this limitation, I recruited two co-authors, each of whom have recently completed his/her undergraduate education in athletic training. To answer the aforementioned question, Burningham and Deru not only reflected on the experiences of themselves and their peers, but also examined pertinent literature related to effective didactic education.
Contributor Notes
Ms. Burningham recently graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training and a Bachelor of Science in Athletic Therapy from Weber State University, Ogden, UT. She hopes to attend graduate school in the fall to pursue a Master's degree in athletic training.
Mr. Deru recently graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training and will graduate Fall 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in Athletic Therapy from Weber State University, Ogden, UT. He hopes to attend medical school in the future.
Column Editor Information: Dr. Berry is an Associate Professor and the Professional Athletic Training Education Program Director at Saginaw Valley State University. Please address all correspondence to David C. Berry, PhD, ATC, Saginaw Valley State University, 7400 Bay Road, UniversityCenter, MI48710. dcberry@svsu.edu