The theory practice gap has been much
reported in health science degrees (Maben, 2006, Baxter, 2007, Mackay et al
2008 and Ferrara 2010). However, little research has been undertaken within the
field of Diagnostic Radiography and that which has been undertaken has focused
on gaps in the curriculum. This study considered the phenomena of the theory
practice gap from a different perspective - that of student experience. This
has been done by exploring how students acquire, develop and experience
professional knowledge during the early years of their undergraduate training
at the University of Liverpool. This case study has illustrated how
professional knowledge is conceptualised, developed, transferred and
experienced within the work placement.
The
methodological approach chosen for this case study was phenomenography. The
rationale for this approach is that an interpretivist methodology allows the
research to focus on the qualitatively different ways that students experience,
perceive and conceptualise the phenomena of linking theory to practice (Marton,
1996).
A
multi method approach to data collection was adopted and it included focus
groups and semi-structured interviews. The sample included eighteen students;
nine from both years one and two of the undergraduate programme in Diagnostic
Radiography.
This
study has exposed a complex derivation of knowledge and this has been
illustrated using Sfard’s (1998) and Engeström and Sanninio’s (2010) learning
metaphors of acquisition, participation and expansion. During the student
group’s professional development, they cognitively acquire knowledge within the
university; knowledge is then acquired through social participation in practice
and between these two learning contexts knowledge is expansively developed.
Expansion occurs through considering the contradictions between the university
and the clinical placement. It has also been
identified that the student group personalise knowledge and this is an
important feature in the student group becoming professionals. To help
illustrate this, Bourdieu’s (1977) concept of habitus has been used.
References
Baxter, P.
(2007) 'The CCARE model of clinical supervision: bridging the theory --
practice gap... (Communication, collaboration, application, reflection,
evaluation)', Nurse Education in Practice, 7(2), 103-111.
Bourdieu, P.
(1977). Outline of a theory of practice
[by] Pierre Bourdieu; translated by Richard Nice: Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Engeström, Y.,
& Sannino, A. (2010). Studies of expansive learning: Foundations, findings
and future challenges. Educational
Research Review, 5(1), 1-24.
Ferrara, L. R.
(2010) 'Integrating evidence-based practice with educational theory in clinical
practice for nurse practitioners: bridging the theory practice gap', Research
& Theory for Nursing Practice, 24(4), 213-216.
Maben, J., Latter,
S. and Clark, J. M. (2006) 'The theory-practice gap: impact of
professional-bureaucratic work conflict on newly-qualified nurses', Journal
of Advanced Nursing, 55(4), 465-477.
Mackay, S. J.,
Anderson, A. C. and Hogg, P. (2008) 'Preparedness for clinical practice --
perceptions of graduates and their work supervisors', Radiography,
14(3), 226-232.
Marton, F. and
Booth, S. A. (1997) Learning and awareness, Mahwah, NJ US: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Sfard, A.
(1998). On two metaphors for learning and the dangers of choosing just one. Educational Researcher, 27(2), 4-13.
