College of Graduate and Professional Studies team presents results of CETL-funded research

L-R: Richard Parent, Titilola Balogun, Brianna Parsons and Sharla Willis with the poster results of their CETL mini-grant-funded
L-R: Richard Parent, Titilola Balogun, Brianna Parsons and Sharla Willis with the poster results of their CETL mini-grant-funded research project, "Public Health Practicum Experiences for Graduate Students: Is It Working?"

This spring, at the annual Center for the Enrichment of Teaching and Learning (CETL) Faculty Workshop, a group of faculty and staff in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies presented findings from a research project funded by a CETL mini-grant. The project, presented by team members Titi Balogun, M.B.B.S., M.P.H., Dr.P.H., practicum coordinator for the graduate programs in Public Health; Richard Parent, Ph.D., director of assessment in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies; Sharla Willis, Ph.D., M.P.H., academic program manager for the Online Master of Public Health program; and Brianna Parsons, Ed.D., education research coordinator in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies, was titled “Public Health Practicum Experiences for Graduate Students: Is It Working?”

The grant proposal, submitted in the spring of 2017 by Balogun, Parent and Willis, was the first ever CGPS proposal to receive funding through the CETL mini-grant program, which offers mini-grants on an annual basis to support faculty and staff research in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL).

The aim of the team’s project was to gain insight into the perceptions of students in the Master of Public Health Program about their field practicum experience. The study also looked at supervising preceptors’ perceptions of the experience as well. After data had been collected, the team was joined by Brianna Parsons from the Ed.D. program to help dig deeply into the data.

While the project showed that the MPH practical experience was viewed positively by both students and their preceptors, the proposed changes to the practicum were designed to increase student satisfaction and professionalization.

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