The Intersection between Liberal Education and Health Profession Education at Armstrong

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Georgia Southern University
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Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of
Summer 2011
The Intersection between Liberal Education and Health
Profession Education at Armstrong
Andi Elizabeth Mincer
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THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN LIBERAL EDUCATION AND HEALTH
PROFESSIONS EDUCATION AT ARMSTRONG
by
ANDI ELIZABETH MINCER
(Under the Direction of Meca Williams-Johnson)
ABSTRACT
This mixed methods inquiry explored how liberal and health professions faculty
at one University perceived each College and the relationship between faculties in each
of their Colleges. Three faculty members from each of these Colleges were interviewed
individually and they then participated in a focus group, discussing prompt statements
created from the transcripts of the interviews. The transcripts of the interviews and the
focus group were then used to construct a web-based survey that was offered to faculty in
both Colleges. Seventy percent of faculty completed the survey.
Qualitative and quantitative data clustered into five main themes: 1) faculty
largely agree on the purposes and goals of higher education; 2) faculty agree that liberal
and professional education are both important; 3) liberal arts faculty don’t understand
health professions education; 4) there are issues of respect for both liberal and health
professions faculty; and, 5) some faculty, especially health professions faculty, were
aware of tension between faculty in the two Colleges. Analysis suggested that inadequate
communication seems to exist at the intersections between these themes. The importance
of the core is not communicated clearly to students or many faculty (especially those in
the health professions) and so it is difficult for students and faculty to value the core
curriculum The nature of health professions education is unclear to liberal education
faculty and, though they agree that it is important, they don’t really know enough about
these disciplines, content or faculty preparation to be truly respectful. Liberal education
faculty perceives that neither the institution nor the health professions faculty really
understand the importance of what they provide, either. Tension is generated at the
intersection between Colleges, but perceptions of this tension vary within and between
Colleges.
Respondents agreed that faculty need to reflect and converse more about issues in
higher education, and perhaps multidisciplinary communication and collaboration is the
key to improving how health professions students integrate liberal education into their
personal as well as their professional lives.

INDEX WORDS: Liberal education, Health professions education, Higher education,
Higher education faculty perceptions
THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN LIBERAL EDUCATION AND HEALTH
PROFESSIONS EDUCATION AT ARMSTRONG
by
ANDI ELIZABETH MINCER
A.S., Pensacola Junior College, 1979
B.S., University of Florida, 1981
M.H.S., Georgia State University, 1990
A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in
Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
STATESBORO, GEORGIA
2011
4

© 2011
ANDI ELIZABETH MINCER
All Rights Reserved
5

THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN LIBERAL EDUCATION AND HEALTH
PROFESSIONS EDUCATION AT ARMSTRONG
by
ANDI ELIZABETH MINCER

Major Professor: Meca Williams-Johnson
Committee: John Weaver
Elwin Tilson
Ming Fang He

Electronic Version Approved:
July 2011
6

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER Page

LIST OF TABLES.....................................................................................8
LIST OF FIGURES....................................................................................9
1 INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................10
Research Questions..........................................................................22
2 LITERATURE REVIEW.................................................................... 29
Framework/introduction................................................................. 29
Curriculum Theory......................................................................... 29
Intersectionality...............................................................................38
Broad Mission of Higher Education.................................................40
Higher Education and Professional Education: A Historical
Perspective......................................................................................43
Liberal and General Education.........................................................57
Challenges to Higher Education.......................................................65
Rise of Professional Education........................................................71
Health Professions Education...........................................................90
Summary of the Literature Review..................................................92
3 METHODS ..........................................................................................93
Sequential Exploratory Mixed Method: Basic Interpretive Qualitative
Research Followed by a Quantitative Survey...................................93
Data Collection ...............................................................................97
Data Analysis................................................................................111
My Perspective and Biases............................................................114
Summary of Methodology.............................................................114
4 RESULTS..........................................................................................116
Phase 1a: Individual Interviews.....................................................117
General Agreement on the Purpose of Higher Education..........119
Liberal Education.....................................................................120
Professional/Health Professions Education...............................124
The Intersection Between Liberal and Health Professions
Education at Armstrong............................................................128
Additional Comments...............................................................142
Phase 1b: Focus Group..................................................................143
Keep the Professions from Putting Courses in the Core............145
Liberal Education is Changing Rapidly Out From Under Us.....149
CoLA Faculty Think They’re More Important Members of the
University Community.............................................................150
CoHP is Behind Some Kind of Curtain.....................................151
Dissatisfaction with Assessment Methods.................................152
Student Understanding and Retention of the Core.....................153
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Phase 2: Survey.............................................................................154
Higher Education......................................................................157
General Liberal Education........................................................158
Liberal Education at Armstrong................................................159
General Professional Education................................................161
Health Professions Education at Armstrong..............................163
The Armstrong Context............................................................166
5 DISCUSSION ...................................................................................171
Faculty Generally Agree On Higher Education Goals And Selected
Problems.......................................................................................171
Faculty Agree That Both Approaches to Education Are Important.177
Liberal Education.....................................................................178
Health Professions Education...................................................186
Are the Goals of Liberal Education and Health Professions
Education Really Different?.....................................................188
The Liberal Arts Faculty Doesn’t Understand Health Professions
Education......................................................................................194
Issues Of Respect ..........................................................................197
Tension Is More Apparent To Health Professions Faculty Than
Liberal Arts Faculty.......................................................................207
Reflections on the Methods............................................................213
6 CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................218
Recommendations for Future Research..........................................224
REFERENCES ..............................................................................................227
APPENDICES
A: Timeline Of Key Events In Higher Education With Emphasis On
Events Significant To Liberal And Professional Education ..................238
B Armstrong Academic Organization, Academic Year 2010-2011.......242
C Interview Protocol ...........................................................................245
D Discussion Prompts For Focus Group ..............................................248
E Survey .............................................................................................253
F Statistical Tables ............................................................................262
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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Validation at Seven Stages.................................................................110
Table 2: Summary of Participant Characteristics .............................................119
Table 3: Prompts That Were Selected by Participants for Discussion, in Order
From Most to Least Discussion Time Spent............................................146
9

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Average annual percent increase in inflation-adjusted published prices
by decade, 1980-81 to 2010-11.................................................................67
Figure 2: College enrollment among 18-24 year-olds, 1973 - 2008...................68
Figure 3: Number of bachelor’s degrees awarded 1997-98 and 2007-08............74
Figure 4: Intersection of the main themes........................................................220