Student Perceptions of an Athletic Training Residential Living Community

Abstract

Context: Colleges and universities are implementing new academic and social programs to retain students. One possible program is a residential living community (RLC) devoted to a content area. Objective: To understand the perceptions of athletic training students involved in an RLC. Design: Qualitative study. Setting: Athletic training program. Patients or Other Participants: Ten athletic training students (8 female, 2 male; average age = 19.50 ± 0.97 years) who participated in an RLC during their first year in college volunteered to participate. Data Collection and Analysis: We used QuestionPro to complete in-depth interviews by having the participants journal their responses to open-ended questions. We used grounded theory to uncover the dominant themes and negotiated over the coding scheme, completed member checks, and performed a peer review to establish trustworthiness. Results: The overall theme of our data pertained to the supportive nature of the RLC allowing for early socialization. Specifically, we uncovered 3 subthemes. The participants found "study opportunities" common because they lived in close proximity to peers in the same classes. Our participants believed the RLC provided a "supportive environment" by fostering a support network with classmates navigating similar challenges. Students also enjoyed early socialization by having a resident assistant who was an upper-level athletic training student. The final theme emerged from the "unintended consequences" of the RLC. Finding a quiet area in which to study became difficult and students often had trouble making personal connections outside of athletic training. Conclusions: The RLC promoted first-year student success by fostering relationships and providing early socialization to the demands of the athletic training program. Some negative aspects did occur; however, these can be remedied by having quiet study spaces available and providing students with sufficient time outside of athletic training to pursue extracurricular endeavors.