February 21, 2012 — The American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) released the results of its first-ever survey measuring demographics and teaching practices of faculty members in radiologic science programs.
Developed to establish a baseline for the ASRT to monitor trends in the educational environment in the next decade, the State of Radiologic Sciences Education Survey highlights a number of unique statistics about programs.
Respondents to the survey reported an average of 27.6 students entered each of their radiologic science programs in 2011. Of those students who completed a program, 93.1 percent passed the certification exam on their first attempt and 83.6 percent found jobs within six months.
The survey also found an average of 3.4 full-time faculty members and 4.1 adjunct faculty members in each respondent’s program. Among faculty, 60 percent have a master’s degree, 22.2 percent hold a bachelor’s degree and 6.1 percent earned a doctorate.
Higher education is a fundamental requirement for all instructors, according to the survey results. More than half of respondents recommend that adjunct faculty, classroom instructors and clinical coordinators have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, and 47.6 percent think clinical instructors should hold at least bachelor’s.
The survey also revealed instructors’ ideal classroom sizes. Respondents agree that 17 students per instructor was best for a classroom and five students per instructor ideal for the clinical setting.
Respondents also answered a series of questions about their teaching practices. The questions focused on a mix of instructional methods, assessment and feedback strategies, and use of technology. For example, more than 70 percent of respondents said they always use lecture-discussion as an instructional method in the classroom. In addition, 58 percent of respondents reported that they always use the paper-and-pencil approach to administer tests, and 67.1 percent said they always use PowerPoint as an instructional tool.
“The data provides administrators and program directors with information about programs that isn’t widely available within the educational community,” said ASRT chief academic officer Myke Kudlas, M.Ed., R.T.(R)(QM). “Educators and administrators can use the results to compare their programs with national norms in areas such as classroom size, number of instructors and common teaching techniques.”
The ASRT sent the survey to more than 3,300 educators in November 2011 and 742 responded, an overall response rate of 22 percent.
For more information: www.asrt.org
