Pharmacy student externs' and preceptors' attitudes about the pharmacist's professional role were measured at the beginning, midpoint (students only), and end of an externship. Preceptors' responses were matched to their externs' responses. Results showed externs tending toward increased professionalism on one subscale, and extern-preceptor…

In this article, the authors focus on the concept of coherence, a relatively underexplored concept in teacher education. They investigate the relationship between students' perceptions of coherence and a number of structural features of teacher education programs to help develop a stronger definition of one important dimension of coherence--the…

Asked bachelor's and master's of social work students to evaluate at two points in their practicum the supervision provided by field instructors. Early in the practicum, students found helpful those supervisory activities that introduced them to the agency and clarified performance expectations. At the end, students preferred activities that…

The major purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility and effectiveness of regional/rural placements for student teachers. A secondary purpose was to discern attitude change among student teachers, cooperating teachers, and principals involved in the program. An evaluation was also made of the effectiveness of secondments, personnel…

In a field practicum based in a low-income community, social work students' sense of empowerment depended on the kind of feedback they received from others. The critical source of feedback was the field instructor. A field setting with limited structural supports is liberating to most students but overwhelming for some. (Author/MSE)

This study evaluated the impact of social work field instructor training on student perceptions of the field experience. Students with seminar-trained field instructors (n=30) were more satisfied with faculty field liaison than students with other instructors, and trained instructors demonstrated expected supervisory behavior more often for most…

This study investigated the perceptions of 79 senior special education practicum students regarding the appropriate role of their university supervisor during a field-based experience. Content analysis showed that students perceived two distinct roles for supervisors: provider of evaluative feedback and support person. (Author/JDD)

A study compared master's degree student ratings of social work field instructor behavior with field instructor self-reports in a random sample of 31 student/instructor pairs. Students' ratings were more strongly associated with their global satisfaction than with instructor self-reports. It is concluded that better indicators of practicum quality…

A study was made of 10 practicum students in the College of Education at Louisiana Tech University and 7 cooperating teachers at a nearby middle school. The purpose of the study was to describe and analyze the practicum experience and its role in the preparation of middle school practicum students. Analysis of the study data yielded several…