The Medical and Health Professions Education Program at Virginia Health Sciences proudly announces the date for Jeremy Amayo's dissertation defense. The study is entitled WHETHER YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN DO A THING OR NOT, YOU ARE RIGHT: EXPLORING PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT STUDENT CHALLENGE ENGAGEMENT USING STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING. The dissertation defense is an open event.
Date: April 4, 2025
Time: 11:00 am EST
Link: https://odu.zoom.us/j/94016962207
Full abstract: This study explores the impact of prefailure dispositions, specifically mindset (MS), goal orientation (GO), and fear of failure (FF), on challenge engagement among Physician Assistant (PA) students. PA education is inherently demanding, and students are likely to experience some kind of failure during their training. Unfortunately, failure is often stigmatized, creating barriers to PA students’ learning and growth. This research uses Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling to investigate noncognitive factors that influence students’ responses to failure with the goal of shifting the focus from failure avoidance to failure tolerance and mastery-based engagement. A national sample of 214 students completed the Challenge Engagement Inventory (CEI), which measures MS, GO, and FF. Findings indicate significant relationships between these factors, with a strong negative association between fixed MS and challenge engagement and a strong positive association between growth MS and engagement. FF emerged as a predominant factor and was shown to have strong positive relationships with challenge avoidance, fixed MS, and performance-based goals. Overall, GO demonstrated a more nuanced relationship with challenge engagement, with mastery goals potentially mitigating some of the harmful effects of FF. The results of the study highlight the role of students’ failure perceptions in academic performance and psychological well-being and suggest that fostering growth mindsets and normalizing failure can improve PA student outcomes. By shifting from performance-oriented to mastery-oriented approaches, creating safe opportunities for students to fail, and nurturing important noncognitive traits (i.e., MS, GO, FF), PA educators can cultivate environments that support resilience, well-being, and greater engagement with challenges. This research lays the groundwork for more holistic remediation practices for struggling students and future investigations on challenge engagement in PA education.