OBJECTIVE. This study examined the parallel-forms reliability of a web application (app) of the Activity Card Sort Australia for adults ages 18–64 and assessed its clinical utility. METHOD. Forty-eight participants completed the app and card versions of the tool within a 2- to 3-wk interval and provided feedback via a purpose-designed survey. Intraclass correlation analysis tested parallel-forms reliability. RESULTS. The app demonstrated acceptable parallel-forms reliability for overall retained activity level (r = .75, p < .001), the daily life domain (r = .77, p < .001), and the recreation and relaxation domain (r = .74, p < .001), but not for the physical activity domain (r = .59, p < .001). Clinical utility responses suggested good acceptance of both versions. CONCLUSION. The results suggest that further studies are required before the app version can be used for research or in clinical settings.

This case report describes the process used to engage clinicians in redesigning the peer audit system and the outcome of this effort at the Rehabilitation Therapies department of the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington. A wide variety of peer audit processes, tools, and requirements have been used across disciplines and clinical sites. Rehabilitation therapy staff participated in a group project using a project charter to design the new approach to the peer audit. A single peer audit tool and unified audit process were developed for use across therapy disciplines and care settings. A survey was used to collect pre- and postrevision data. Responses to all survey questions indicated favorable change. Broad engagement of clinical staff in the redesign resulted in a peer audit process that was completed more consistently and was more likely to be perceived as resulting in meaningful discussion, encouraging critical thinking, and improving clinical skills.

OBJECTIVE. This study is a pilot implementation of an Internationalization at Home (IaH) teaching and learning collaboration to enhance intercultural learning and understanding of concepts of occupation in two cohorts of occupational science and occupational therapy students from the Philippines and the United States. METHOD. In this collective case study, 149 students (Cohort 1, n = 65; Cohort 2, n = 84) participated. The collaboration included virtual conversations among students, faculty presentations, reflective assignments, and completion of an anonymous online survey. RESULTS. Analysis yielded three essential themes: (1) perception of increased knowledge about human occupation and the influence of culture, (2) identification of teaching–learning aspects that facilitated intercultural learning outcomes, and (3) identification of factors that were enablers of and barriers to learning. CONCLUSION. This study provides insights on how intercultural learning experiences can be integrated into occupational science and occupational therapy curricula and can increase understanding of concepts related to human occupation.

There is a continued need to communicate global perspectives in occupational therapy education, but the literature addressing how to incorporate firsthand global experiences into campus learning environments is scant. This article describes how course-based synchronous interactions between U.S. undergraduate occupational science students and Swedish undergraduate occupational therapy students occur via online technology. In a 2014 pilot study, we thematically analyzed students’ open-ended survey responses to discern what students learned through the interactive sessions. We also performed a content analysis of four audio-recorded interactive sessions to understand the content and nature of students’ learning. Our findings suggest that course-based online synchronous interactions provide a positive way for students to learn about other cultures and global differences in occupational therapy practice. The findings also highlight needs for improvement relative to the structure and aims of the interactive sessions. We relate these findings to the global availability of technology and occupational therapists’ cultural competence.

OBJECTIVE. A national study explored the use of simulated learning experiences in U.S. occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant entry-level academic programs. METHOD. Program faculty at 245 of 310 occupational therapy assistant and occupational therapy entry-level programs completed a self-reported 23-question online survey on the use of simulation and its challenges and benefits. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, and thematic coding. RESULTS. Of 245 programs, 175 (71%) reported using simulation, with the most common teaching methods incorporating human actors and students and video cases. Simulated scenarios were primarily presented in intervention courses (90%). Faculty provided feedback that benefits of the simulated experience were increased critical reasoning, problem solving and decision making, and communication among students. Challenges were time, cost, and scheduling. CONCLUSION. Findings were similar to those in the literature in terms of simulated learning’s uses, benefits, and challenges. Further research on student learning outcomes and pedagogy in occupational therapy is recommended.

Educators must determine whether occupational therapy students are adequately prepared for Level II fieldwork once they have successfully completed the didactic portion of their coursework. Although studies have shown that students regard the use of video cameras and simulated patient encounters as useful tools for assessing professional and clinical behaviors, little has been published in the occupational therapy literature regarding the practical application of simulated patients or reflective video analysis. We describe a model for a final Comprehensive Practical Exam that uses both simulated patients and reflective video analysis to assess student preparedness for Level II fieldwork, and we report on student perceptions of these instructional modalities. We provide recommendations for designing, implementing, and evaluating simulated patient experiences in light of existing educational theory.

This article describes a process for student professional development and the efforts of faculty over almost 2 decades to conceptualize, formatively evaluate, and refine it. Initiated in 1987, the process underwent numerous changes to address both conceptual and pragmatic concerns derived from faculty and student ad hoc feedback. Currently in place is a process that addresses these concerns while lending itself to effective use among master’s level students. The development and iteration of the process is offered as a case for consideration by other educators engaged in similar efforts.

OBJECTIVE. This study investigated the effects of qualitative and quantitative knowledge of results (KR) on the acquisition of a motor skill. It was hypothesized that there would be differences in performance during skill acquisition and retention, depending on the type of feedback given. Qualitative KR was in the form of verbal encouragement and quantitative KR was in the form of an algebraic number representing an error score. METHODS. Seventy-seven adults were randomly assigned to one of four feedback conditions, Quantitative, Qualitative, Quantitative and Qualitative, and no feedback (Control). Participants learned an isometric force production skill. Data were collected during skill acquisition and retention phases. Computer hardware and custom software were used to collect data and administer the feedback conditions of the independent variable. RESULTS. There was a statistically significant difference in the Acquisition Phase for the main effect of Condition F (3,73) = 6.35, p < .05, and for Block F (9,657) = 2.07, p < .05, but there was no statistically significant Condition X Block interaction F (27,657) = 1.02, p > .05. Pair-wise comparisons revealed statistically significant differences between conditions containing qualitative feedback and conditions containing no qualitative feedback (p < .05). The main effect of condition was significant F (3,73) = 3.00, p < .05 in the retention phase, however there were no significant pair-wise comparisons (p > .05). CONCLUSION. The results of this study suggest that in a healthy adult population, qualitative feedback, by itself and when combined with quantitative feedback, resulted in superior skill acquisition, but not in the retention of that skill. The artificiality of the task along with differing modes of feedback (audible versus visual) are two potentially limiting factors to this study. Future research that controls for these factors may yield more definitive findings about the role that qualitative feedback has in improving motor performance and learning.

The purpose of this study was to gather formative evaluation data to determine students’ perceptions of effective aspects of professional behavior feedback for use in program development. A qualitative design was used to gather data from baccalaureate-level occupational therapy students. Through focus groups and semi-structured interviews, data were gathered about the students’ beliefs, feelings, and recommendations for policy changes. Four themes emerged: Not Just “Contact With a Piece of Paper”; Fieldwork Needs To Be Taken Into Account; Faculty Fairness and Support Need To Be Present; “This Is Like Therapy for Me.” Aspects of these themes have implications for classroom and fieldwork settings. The type of feedback these students found helpful and the desire to have fieldwork performance considered along with their classroom behavior were salient perceptions. As educators, it is important to listen to the voices of students to gain insights into their perceptions of the effective aspects of the feedback process for professional behaviors.

Objectives. Treatment protocols derived from research literature can help therapists provide more rigorous treatment and more systematic assessment of client progress. Method. This study applied research findings about the influence of task, subject, and feedback parameters on adult performance with block designs to an occupational therapy treatment protocol for parquetry block assembly – an activity occupational therapists use to remediate constructional deficits. Task parameter research suggests that parquetry tasks can be graded according to the features of the design cards, with cards having all block boundaries drawn in being easier than those with some block boundaries omitted. Results. Subject parameter findings suggest that clients’ lesions and initial constructional competence can influence their approaches to parquetry tasks. Conclusion. Feedback parameter research suggests that a combination of perceptual and planning cues is most effective for parquetry tasks. Methods to help clients transfer constructional skills from parquetry to functional tasks are also discussed.