Learning Styles of Physical Therapy and Physical Therapy Assistant Students in Accredited Physical Therapy Programs

The purpose of this study was to determine the learning styles of Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students and associate degree Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) students and identify any association between their learning styles and examine the association between gender and age by learning style. Participants included 337 DPT and PTA students attending CAPTE accredited institutions with doctoral DPT or associate PTA programs in Tennessee and southwest Virginia. The Felder (1996) and Soloman Index of Learning Styles (ILS) was used to determine learning style preferences within 4 learning style dimensions (active-reflective, sensing-intuitive, visual-verbal, and sequentialglobal). Demographics included program of study, gender, age, ethnicity, and highest level of education. Participants were 18-63 years (mean age 25.87, standard deviation 5.62, median age 24); 205 (60.8%) DPT students, 132 (39.2%) PTA students; 205 (60.8%) female, 132 (39.2%) male. Five research questions were evaluated using cross-tabulated tables with frequency counts, percentages, and chi square tests. Statistical significance was established using a .05 alpha. There was a significant difference in the active-reflective learning style among PTA students by age. However, there was no significant difference between the learning styles of DPT and PTA students. Participants were found to be balanced on the active-reflective dimension, sensing on the sensing-intuitive dimension, visual on the visual-verbal dimension, and balanced on the sequential-global dimension. All students displayed preferences were toward the active, sensing, visual, and sequential learning styles. This findings demonstrated that DPT and PTA students have a balanced learning style with a strong preference toward active, sensing, visual, and sequential. Therefore, teaching methods should provide an instructional environment that addresses these learning style preferences. The student’s awareness of his or her learning style will enable the learner to capitalize on strengths and develop areas of weakness. This ability to employ effective learning strategies will equip an individual for the challenges of his or her chosen profession and lifelong learning

Mitigating Risk, Eradicating Slavery

For U.S. companies with forced labor or child labor in the supply chain, litigation is on the rise. This Article surveys the current litigation landscape involving forced labor in the supply chain. It ultimately concludes that domestic corporations that source from international suppliers should adopt the Model Contract Clauses drafted by the ABA Business Law Section Working Group to Draft Human Rights Protections in International Supply Contracts ( Working Group ). This Article traces the origins of cases involving supply chain forced labor, beginning with the early employee negligence cases that form the backdrop of existing case law and the cornerstone of the Model Contract disclaimers. Part III turns to the evolving consumer class actions based on deceptive trade practices. Part IV addresses the complexities of employee-based cases alleging violations of the ATS, and by comparison, this part also illustrates why the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) extraterritorial jurisdictional grant may provide fertile ground for domestic litigation involving foreign forced labor in the supply chain. Finally, Part V discusses the origin of the disclaimer clauses in the MCCs proposed by the Working Group, and the arguments in favor of using the MCCs as a foundation for reducing abusive labor practices in the supply chain, even for those brought under the TVPRA. The Article concludes that the threat of domestic liability is on a steady upward trajectory, and businesses are well-advised to begin incorporating contractual rights and remedies to deal with the problem of forced labor in the supply chain, but in a way that does not increase the potential for domestic liability

Institutional Budget Function Allocations as Predictors of Performance Outcomes of Tennessee Public Community Colleges and Universities

With the increased use of performance funding in Tennessee and many other states, it is imperative that administrators strategically budget to meet performance outcome goals. The purpose of this research was to determine the relationship between the budget function allocations of Instruction, Academic Support, and Student Services and performance outcome measures involving student success factors defined as completion of credit hours, awards of technical certificates, and awards of undergraduate degrees through the academic years of 2006-07 and 2013-14. The population included the 13 public community colleges and 9 public universities in Tennessee within the Tennessee Board of Regents and the University of Tennessee systems. Statistical procedures included bivariate correlations and multiple regressions of the predictor variables of budget function allocations and the criterion variables of performance outcomes. Descriptive data indicated an increase in the majority of the budget function area means and decreases in the majority of performance outcomes over the timeframe of the study. Correlation analysis of community college predictor and criterion variables revealed significant positive relationships existed between the following: (a) salary allocations for Student Services and awards of technical certificates; and (b) allocations for salaries for Instruction and completion of credit hours and number of associate degrees awarded. Multiple regression analysis of community college variables indicated salaries of Instruction were the most useful predictor of performance outcomes. Correlation analysis of university predictor and criterion variables revealed significant negative relationships existed between the following: (a) operations for Student Services and completion of 24, 48, and 72 credit hours; (b) salaries for Student Services and completion of 24, 48, and 72 credit hours and number of bachelor degrees awarded; (c) salaries of Academic Support and completion of 24 and 48 credit hours; (d) operations budgets for Instruction and completion of 24, 48, and 72 credit hours; (e) budget allocations for salaries for Instruction and completion of 24 credit hours; and (f) combined budget allocations and completion of 24 and 48 credit hours. Correlation analysis of university predictor and criterion variables revealed significant positive relationships existed between operations budgets for Academic Support and completion of 72 credit hours and number of bachelor degrees awarde

Undergraduate Retention Rates for Students in Learning Support Math Classes versus Traditional Math Classes Controlling for ACT Mathematics Scores

The purpose of this study was to determine if the 1 – and 2-term retention rates for students with the same ACT mathematics subsection scores were different between students who took a regular section of Probability and Statistics and students who took a learning support section of the same course. The subjects of this study were 2,714 students enrolled in a Probability and Statistics course (either regular sections or learning support sections) at a 4-year institution from the 2013 summer semester to the 2014 fall semester. As expected, students who scored a 19 or greater on the mathematics section of the ACT were significantly more likely to be enrolled in later semesters than students who scored below a 19. When students were grouped by matching ACT mathematics sub scores there was not a significant difference in 1-term and 2-term retention rates between students who took a 4-hour learning support section of probability and statistics and students who opted to take a regular 3-hour version of the same course

Service Quality in Higher Education: Expectations Versus Experiences of Doctoral Students at State-supported Universities in Tennessee

The purpose of this study was to determine if a gap analysis model (SERVQUAL) of service quality measurement could be appropriately applied to higher education. The researcher asked doctoral students from six doctoral-granting, state-supported universities in Tennessee to complete a service quality survey, comparing their experiences with their expectations, thereby giving a measure of gaps in educational service quality at their institution. The research design included five research questions, with five null hypotheses testing the relationship between students\u27 expectations and experiences, between overall satisfaction and service gaps, and between overall satisfaction and certain demographic variables (age, gender, ethnicity, type of degree, and class load). Analysis of the data revealed gaps between students\u27 expectations and their actual experiences with services delivered at their university. A comparison of mean expectation scores to mean experience scores revealed a statistically significant difference between the two scores for 25 of the 26 items on the scale. Expectation scores exceeded experience scores for all items. The researcher found a statistically significant relationship between only one demographic variable (age) and overall satisfaction scores. The researcher also found a statistically significant relationship between the gap scores for scale dimensions and some demographic variables. However, because of the strength of the relationship between the demographic variables and either gap scores or overall satisfaction, the researcher concluded that none of the demographic variables were of practical value in predicting gap scores or overall satisfaction. In addition, a statistically significant relationship was found between overall satisfaction and the composite gap score for the scale. This indicated that gap scores, as produced by this scale, can be a valid measurement of the overall satisfaction of doctoral students with the delivery of services by their university. Because the gap scores were inversely related to the overall satisfaction of doctoral students, this would seem to indicate that university programs designed to reduce the size of expectation/experience gaps, thereby improve service quality, would also enhance the overall satisfaction of doctoral students

The Price of Justice: An Analysis of the Costs that are Appropriately Considered in a Cost-based Vindication of Statutory Rights Defense to an Arbitration Agreement

In the wake of AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, parties opposing enforcement of an arbitration agreement with a class waiver increasingly relied on the prohibitive-costs-based vindication of statutory rights defense. The Supreme Court recently held in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant that the effective vindication doctrine cannot be used to invalidate an otherwise enforceable arbitration agreement with class-action waiver simply because the opponents have no “economic incentive” to pursue individual arbitration. However, the Court’s bases for this holding are unclear and unnecessarily call into question the very existence of the “effective vindication doctrine.” This Article examines the historical underpinnings of the prohibitive-costs-based defense and the different frameworks courts have employed to analyze those costs. These approaches can be summarized as (1) the subjective approach, which compares the costs of arbitration to the litigant’s ability to pay; (2) the comparative approach, which compares the costs of arbitration to the costs of proceeding in litigation; (3) the cost/benefit approach, which compares the costs of arbitration to the likelihood of the plaintiff’s potential recovery; and (4) the incentive-based approach, which considers whether the plaintiffs or their potential attorneys have any incentive, given the costs involved, to pursue their claims. This Article concludes that the comparative approach is the only approach that is both grounded in the text of the Court’s vindication of statutory rights jurisprudence and serves the purposes of the FAA and enforcing statutory rights

Learning Styles of Physical Therapy and Physical Therapy Assistant Students in Accredited Physical Therapy Programs

Abstract is available to download

The Fine Print

A recent study by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), the federal agency tasked with “empowering consumers to take control over their economic lives,” found that more than 50 percent of the market for consumer credit cards had arbitration agreements, and almost 100 percent of storefront payday lending contracts require its customers to take their disputes to binding arbitration. The same study found that most consumers do not know their credit cards have a binding arbitration agreement and that it is not a primary concern for consumers in deciding which credit cards to obtain. However, almost all arbitration agreements in consumer products also have what is known as a class-action waiver clause, meaning that the consumer agrees to proceed to arbitration and give up any right to represent or be a member of a class action—in arbitration or in court. The CFPB recently announced that it will propose a rule banning the class-action waiver in all consumer financial products arbitration agreements. The CFPB’s proposed rule will be welcome news to many consumer-rights attorneys, who have found attempts to adjudicate small value claims on behalf of a class thwarted by the class-action waiver. The result will almost surely be that financial companies will stop offering arbitration as an alternative to litigation

A Haven for Traffickers: How the United States Provides a Legal Safe Haven for Businesses That Rely on Forced Labor in the International Supply Chain

Congress enacted the Trafficking Victims Protection Act ( TVPRA or Act ) in 2000, which, through its amendments, gives victims of human trafficking, including forced labor or slave labor, a private right of action against those who knowingly benefit from the abusive labor practices perpetrated on them. Even though slave labor, particularly child labor, is a perceived evil in the foreign supply chains of many domestic companies, courts appear uncomfortable with the some of the civil-liability provisions of the TVPRA. This Article examines recent cases brought under the TVPRA, and how, in some cases, courts have eviscerated the private right of action for these foreign victims. This Article also analyzes how some of these recent interpretations do not comport with prior precedent or legislative intent and attempts to offer an explanation as to the judicial discomfort with victim-based claims for damages under this Act