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Open Access Thesis

Keywords

Athletic trainers--Certification; Athletic trainers--Training of;

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) approved athletic training education program (curriculum program) to the NATA approved internship program in terms of their adequacy in preparation of individuals for the NATA certification examination. A self-reporting questionnaire was developed in an effort to identify the educational background of each subject and their viewpoints concerning their educational preparation for the NATA certification examination. The subjects for this study were composed of 177 NATA certified athletic trainers who were certified between January 1, 1985 and October 31, 1989. The collected data were tabulated by hand using basic descriptive statistics. Responses were tallied using frequencies and percentages to represent responses to each question. Cross-tabulations were then conducted in order to compare the responses of those individuals completing the curriculum program with those individuals completing the internship program. Because of difficulty in analyzing the data from those individuals who had completed both programs, those individuals were eliminated from the analysis. A return rate of 70.6% was achieved (125 out of 177). Those individuals completing an NATA approved curriculum program represented 51.1% of the group, while 48.9% of the individuals completed the internship program. Many individuals (82%) chose to study on their own as a h method of preparation for the exam. Both groups used various methods of preparation, and no difference was found between the two groups in respect to how they prepared for the exam. When the success rate of the two programs was examined, no difference was found. Both groups had a success rate of greater than 60%. When the areas of deficiency were examined, a slight difference was observed. A small percentage, 12.5%, of the individuals from the internship group failed to pass both the oral practical and written simulation portions of the exam, whereas none of the individuals from the curriculum group responded as such. It has been concluded that no advantages exist between the two routes of certification as far as adequacy in preparing individuals for the NATA certification.

Year of Submission

1991

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

School of Health, Physical Education, and Leisure Services

First Advisor

Larry D. Hensley

Second Advisor

Iradge Ahrabi-Fard

Third Advisor

Jeanette Marsh

Comments

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to scholarworks@uni.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.

Date Original

1991

Object Description

1 PDF file (75 leaves)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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