The Relationship Between the Health Science Reasoning Test (HSRT) and Rockhurst DPT Student Performance on NPTE
Kendra Becker, SPT; Breland Basler, SPT; Karah Loftin, SPT; Melanie Siscos, SPT; Katie Walsh, SPT
Faculty Mentors: Amy S. Foley, PT, DPT, MA, CEEAA
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to detect a relationship between the first attempt score on the NPTE (National Physical Therapy Examination) and students critical thinking skills on the Health Science Reasoning test (HSRT)3. The questions this study seeks to answer are: is there a relationship between the Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT) and Rockhurst DPT performance on the first attempt on the National Physical Therapy Examination and do Rockhurst DPT students show an improvement in students' initial clinical reasoning scores and those at graduation?
Subjects: Participants in this study were ninety-six Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students at Rockhurst University in Kansas CityA total of 74 subjects were used in data analysis due to the inability of 20 students to retake the HSRT in the third year.
Methods/Materials: Participants in this study were ninety-six Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri. The participants took the Health Science Reasoning test (HSRT) under test taking conditions and after Informed Consent was given. The test was administered at the beginning of the first semester of the PT program and again in the last semester of the program to monitor the acquisition of critical thinking skills before and after exposure to clinical reasoning course material within the physical therapy curriculum and full-time clinical experiences. Overall test results were then compared to performance on the National Physical Therapy Examination, first time attempt. A Pearson correlation and paired t-test were utilized in SPSS software version 24.0 to analyze the data.
Results: Pearson Product Moment Correlations were computed between the components of the HSRT with NPTE and GPA. Results showed that GPA correlated significantly with NPTE (r = .636, p < .001). GPA also correlated with Analysis 1 (r = .313, p = .007), and with three subtests of the HSRT taken in the third year, namely, Overall 3 (r = .289, p = .013), Percentile 3 (r = .304, p = .009) and Analysis 3 (r = .381, p = .009). Only two subtests of the HSRT (Analysis 1 and Percentile 3) correlated with NPTE (rs = .273 and .241, respectively, ps < .04). Analyses using paired-samples t-tests showed increased performance on all of the subtests of the HSRT from first to third test. However, only the Overall change (t(73) = 1.828, p = .072) and Percentile change (t(73) = 1.701, p = .093) were marginally significant. Multiple regression analyses were conducted with the NPTE as the criterion variable, and GPA and the subtests of the HSRT entered as predictors. This was done separately for first year and third year tests. For the first year test, the HSRT accounted for only (R2 = .148) 14.8 percent of the variability in NPTE, and for the third year test, R2 = .163, or accounting for 16.3 percent of the variability in the NPTE. GPA alone accounts for (R2 = .405) 40.5 percent of the variability, a significant amount (F(1,72) = 49.035, p < .001.
Conclusions: This study concludes the Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT) may not be a valid predictor of performance on the first attempt of the National Physical Therapy Examination. Additionally, the HSRT would not be a recommended test for student selection into Physical Therapy Education Programs.
Acknowledgement: We would like to thank the subjects who volunteered their time to participate in this study.
Kendra Becker, SPT; Breland Basler, SPT; Karah Loftin, SPT; Melanie Siscos, SPT; Katie Walsh, SPT
Faculty Mentors: Amy S. Foley, PT, DPT, MA, CEEAA
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to detect a relationship between the first attempt score on the NPTE (National Physical Therapy Examination) and students critical thinking skills on the Health Science Reasoning test (HSRT)3. The questions this study seeks to answer are: is there a relationship between the Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT) and Rockhurst DPT performance on the first attempt on the National Physical Therapy Examination and do Rockhurst DPT students show an improvement in students' initial clinical reasoning scores and those at graduation?
Subjects: Participants in this study were ninety-six Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students at Rockhurst University in Kansas CityA total of 74 subjects were used in data analysis due to the inability of 20 students to retake the HSRT in the third year.
Methods/Materials: Participants in this study were ninety-six Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri. The participants took the Health Science Reasoning test (HSRT) under test taking conditions and after Informed Consent was given. The test was administered at the beginning of the first semester of the PT program and again in the last semester of the program to monitor the acquisition of critical thinking skills before and after exposure to clinical reasoning course material within the physical therapy curriculum and full-time clinical experiences. Overall test results were then compared to performance on the National Physical Therapy Examination, first time attempt. A Pearson correlation and paired t-test were utilized in SPSS software version 24.0 to analyze the data.
Results: Pearson Product Moment Correlations were computed between the components of the HSRT with NPTE and GPA. Results showed that GPA correlated significantly with NPTE (r = .636, p < .001). GPA also correlated with Analysis 1 (r = .313, p = .007), and with three subtests of the HSRT taken in the third year, namely, Overall 3 (r = .289, p = .013), Percentile 3 (r = .304, p = .009) and Analysis 3 (r = .381, p = .009). Only two subtests of the HSRT (Analysis 1 and Percentile 3) correlated with NPTE (rs = .273 and .241, respectively, ps < .04). Analyses using paired-samples t-tests showed increased performance on all of the subtests of the HSRT from first to third test. However, only the Overall change (t(73) = 1.828, p = .072) and Percentile change (t(73) = 1.701, p = .093) were marginally significant. Multiple regression analyses were conducted with the NPTE as the criterion variable, and GPA and the subtests of the HSRT entered as predictors. This was done separately for first year and third year tests. For the first year test, the HSRT accounted for only (R2 = .148) 14.8 percent of the variability in NPTE, and for the third year test, R2 = .163, or accounting for 16.3 percent of the variability in the NPTE. GPA alone accounts for (R2 = .405) 40.5 percent of the variability, a significant amount (F(1,72) = 49.035, p < .001.
Conclusions: This study concludes the Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT) may not be a valid predictor of performance on the first attempt of the National Physical Therapy Examination. Additionally, the HSRT would not be a recommended test for student selection into Physical Therapy Education Programs.
Acknowledgement: We would like to thank the subjects who volunteered their time to participate in this study.