TOURO COLLEGE

School of Health Sciences

Physical Therapy  Post Professional Program

Spring 2019

DPT 795
Faculty member(s) responsible: Joseph Indelicato, M.S.W., Ph.D.

Course Thesis Advisement I 

Phone number: Bayshore tel. 631 665 1600 ext 6219

E-mail: joseph.indelicato@touro.edu

Appointment time:  Sundays and Mondays by appointment

 Students or groups either in person or online, or by phone, or freeconferencecall.com starting February 3, 2019    

Credits: 3       

Course Description

This is a graduate Physical Therapy course designed to provide students with knowledge about and hands-on practice with experimental research methods in Physical Therapy. Students will learn how to plan, conduct, and analyze their own experimental or meta- analytic, or review study research, and how to communicate the results of their research to others both in written and verbal formats. Students will develop the knowledge and skills to apply and critique the scientific method their practices.

Outcomes   

This Course Meets the Following Physical Therapy Learning Outcomes:

1. Research Methods in Physical Therapy
2. Students will understand and apply basic research methods in Physical Therapy, including research design, data analysis, and interpretation.
3. Critical Thinking Skills in Physical Therapy
4. Students will respect and use critical and creative thinking, skeptical inquiry, and, when possible, the scientific approach to solve problems related to behavior and mental processes.
5. Values in Physical Therapy related to research investigations.
6. Students will be able to weigh evidence, tolerate ambiguity, act ethically, and reflect other values that are the underpinnings of Physical Therapy as a discipline.
7. Information and Technological Literacy
8. Students will demonstrate information competence and the ability to use computers and other technology for many purposes.
9. Communication Skills
10. Students will be able to communicate effectively in a variety of formats.

Course Objectives

At the end of this course, the student will be able to:

1. Understand basic principles of research in Physical Therapy.
2. Understanding research techniques in the field, and how research effects our understanding of intervention and treatment.   
3. Understand the difference between theoretical constructs and objective scientific measures.
4. Students will strengthen skills in critical thinking, regarding psychological experimentation and how they might be used to predict human and animal behaviors.
5. Students will strengthen critical reading skills in terms of evaluating research protocols.
6. Students will strengthen library and writing skills, including a better understanding of using the Internet to better find peer review journal articles, learn to use psych lit, psych abstracts.
7. Students will gain skills by designing an experiment, meta-analysis or a literature review on a specialized topic.

 

Teaching/Learning Experiences

The course is taught in a lecture, online, and discussion format.  Problem solving will include homework, reviewing research articles Physical Therapy for presentation in class. Students will also be required to submit assignments from their laboratory work.

Course Requirements

Homework assigned weekly.  The student is expected to read the text assignment prior to its discussion in class.    This prior reading will be essential since the lecturer will be expecting to review material that has already been initially read. It will be very difficult for a student to do well in the class without reading the text.

 

Each student or student group will be required to design an experiment, and do an oral presentation describing it by the end of the semester.   They are to discuss their work  in terms of the research design and the implications to their intended field of study .  (Library Internet resources, Proquest, Medline, and findarticles.com along with the library will have appropriate articles available.)  Surprise quizzes may be given to judge student’s ability to follow the course work and the text.

 

Week		TOPIC	ASSIGNMENTS
1	Feb 5	Introduction to Research Methods Designing Research, Areas of research in Physical Therapy.    The Scientific Method Types of Designs,    Surveys, metaanalysis, experiments, etc. Serendipity, getting started, The Empirical approach cost benefit analysis, Gathering evidence Learning how to look   What the early researchers did	Chapter One and Two Indelicato., Less Tears Guide
2	Feb. 6	Meetings with students in person,
3	Feb. 20	Making Mistakes Sampling the public an situations Stratified samples Case Study, Using a library, peer review articles, Boolean Logic.  The language of the search engines, and google Scholar, and Proquest,   Comparing and contrasting search techniques	Two-page paper due discussing at least one research article students have looked at.    On a topic of their interest. Articles must be from a peer review journal
4	March 5	Writing chapter one, the introduction, problem statement purpose.     .	Students are to write three-page paper on possible idea for study, including limitations of doing research in the area. What Hypothesis and Research Questions may be used. Chapter 4  Writing Chapter one Start using Chapter 15 as a reference for all writings (APA style)
5	March 12	Why surveying is so darn tuff OUTLINING, THINKING IN TERMS OF THE LITERATURE. Non parametric versus parametric statistics and the mathematical differences, look at   Chi Square, correlations and t-tests Testing with one sample, measuring change  Meetings with student groups	Students are to write three-page paper on possible idea for study, including limitations of doing research in the area. What Hypothesis and Research Questions may be used.  Please explain  the need for your paper to be written.   Discuss design issues of your paper. Beginning to design your study  base on writings in Chapter 4, read chapter five in text
6	March 19	The Dry chapter, making it a tight presentation,   keeping it simple, Making the design match the hypothesis Naturalistic Observation, how do you do that, objectively	Read Chapters five and six
7	March 26	Meetings with students by phone, Skype, Online, or Canvas, regarding paper, need to set up appointments	Eight page paper due,  Chapters one and two, Please remember you are including materials already written.
8	April 9 in class	Class presentation due discussion of your planned studies Discussion of technical aspects of IRB, what IRB issues would be encountered in your study, or studies done in the area. Correlations and reality  Comparing multiple groups, methods and statistics  Analysis of Variance and Analysis of Covariance Multiple sample testing. Focus on students topics	Just going over some basic statistics, homework is to not worry, ok worry, but it will be understandable. Read IRB instructions Read Belmont Report Read Chapter 11
9	April 10 in class	Focus on topics and statistics in papers being read.	Review statistics section in notes, students required to bring in articles related to their topics with stats.
10	April 17	Continuing look at ANOVA and ANCOVA, discussion of statistical ways of manipulating data to get information, Multiple regression Meetings with students by phone, Skype,  Online, or Canvas	Read, Chapter 7,  8, Chapter 9  and ten Indelicato Practice IRB to be handed in
11	April 24,	Predicting the future from the past, research on the unthinkingable but likely  catastrophes, that happens when collecting data. .   Placebo, reality and not, and the theory of how placebo design makes more dangerous drugs	Chapter 10 Indelicato Rewrite eight page  paper, should expand to about 12 pages.
12	May 6	How can we know if someone is in pain, why is pain considered subjective when there are so many good ways to measure it.    Comparing apples, oranges, and the lack of logic of choice.  Looking at bad assumptions, Why you  cannot edit your own work.	Read Chapter 12
13	May 13	Final presentation of the students regarding their topics	Final Paper due  fifteen pages which should contain Chapters 1, 2, 3,  using the template format, and chapters 4 and 5 base on hypothesized results
14	June 3	Papers are returned to students	Students to make corrections
15	June 18	Student presentations	Students to make PowerPoint presentations of their paper results to date.

 

 

Grading Guidelines

Attendance and participation 10 percent

First paper  2 page                   10 percent

Second paper 3 page                10 percent

Third paper    3 page                10 percent

Fourth paper   8 page             10  percent

Class presentation                    10 percent

Fifth paper 12 pages                 10 percent

Final presentation and paper   30 percent

 

 Required text    

• The Less Tears Guide to Writing a Thesis by Joseph Indelicato, which professor will email free to students.
• Physical Therapy Paper template provided by professor.

 

Recommended

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC:

American Psychological Association.

Student Attendance

Students are expected to attend all scheduled class sessions and to stay through the entire class period.  Classes will start on time, and faculty may bar entry or assign special seating for students who arrive late.  Generally, faculty will allow one ten-minute break per hour.  If a student must leave at other than break time (s) he is to do so quietly and unobtrusively, and return promptly.  

Students must inform the professor and/or the Office of any absences in advance of the class taking place.  Faculty will also inform the Office of any student absences.  Excessive absences may be grounds for dismissal from the program.  Two absences will result in a drop in grade; three absences will result in failure of the course.  In addition, being late twice will be considered as one absence.

Records of class attendance and absence will be kept.  The instructor, faculty advisor or program director in some cases may request documenta­tion of illness etc.  Faculty will follow the attendance policy of the Touro College Program and may penalize students who are absent from tests, and quizzes.  It is left to the instructor's and the Program Director's discretion whether to allow make up exams for documented absences.  Faculty are to be notified if a student is to be absent from class or a scheduled activity.  If this is not feasible, he/she must personally notify the Office in advance.

Professional Behavior

Student professional development is supported by all faculty with an appreciation that professional growth develops throughout one's professional education.   Professional behavior is included as part of the course grade. 

Policy on Papers and Written Assignments

Students are responsible for all assigned readings unless otherwise specified by the instructor.  Students are expected to have material read PRIOR to the assignment date.  Reading material and handouts from prerequisite and co-requisite courses may also be used to supplement the class materials.

 University Statement on Needed Accommodations or Adaptation

If you are a qualified student with a disability seeking accommodations under the Americans with Disability Act of Section 504 The Rehabilitation Act, please see course instructor at the soonest possible time for special arrangements, seating, and other accommodations necessary.

University Statement on Academic Honesty and Integrity

       You are expected to behave with the highest level of academic integrity.  Cheating and other forms of dishonestly will receive the proper disciplinary action from the college. Classroom behavior that interferes with the instructor’s ability to conduct the class or ability of students to benefit from the instructor’s ability to conduct the class or ability of students to benefit from the instruction will not be tolerated.  All beepers and cellular phones should be turned off while class is in session. You are expected to come to class prepared (having done the assigned reading) and ready to participate in class discussion.  Following these guidelines will enable you to maximize your time in class.

All programs in New York State undergo periodic reviews by accreditation agencies and the State Education Department.  For these purposes, samples of student’s work are made available to those professionals conducting the reviews.  Students’ anonymity is assured under these purposes.  If you do not wish to have your work made available for these purposes, please let the professor know before the start of the second class.  Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

University Statement of Attendance

Students are expected to attend each lecture and laboratory session on a regular and punctual basis.  They are to complete the assignments in a timely fashion.  Excessive absences or failure or the course and loss of financial and Repeated absences may lead to dismissal from the College.