Date Presented 04/05/19
Primary Author and Speaker: Rebecca Aldrich
Additional Authors and Speakers: Brianne Tabios, Natasha Strickland, Vidhisha Nair, Daniel Park
PURPOSE: Internationalized education is becoming more common in occupational therapy, but there is limited research on its impact beyond the promotion of culturally relevant practice (Aldrich, 2018). Given the profession’s ever-increasing global scope and pressing needs for demographic and epistemological diversity (Hammell, 2015), it is necessary to understand the ways in which internationalized education may broaden students’ horizons and facilitate wider development of the profession overall.
DESIGN: This in-progress retrospective descriptive study is analyzing final student presentations from five years of the University of Southern California’s (USC) Summer Occupational Therapy Immersion (SOTI) program. SOTI is a four-week intensive immersion program designed for occupational therapy students and practitioners from outside the United States who are interested in gaining a more global understanding of occupational therapy education, research, and practice. The program incorporates didactic lectures from USC faculty members that highlight emerging areas of practice and research, as well as site visits to local clinical settings and cultural activities. As part of the program, SOTI students also share aspects of their own education and practice from their home countries. To date, SOTI has enrolled 184 students from 31 countries on 6 continents and has grown from 11 participants in 2014 to 50 in 2018. At the culmination of each SOTI iteration, students give final presentations using PowerPoint, video, and poster formats to describe why they chose to attend the SOTI program, what they learned and accomplished through the program, and what knowledge and memories they will take back to their home countries. Presentations contain an average of 8-13 slides or frames that include words, phrases, and images; a minority of presentations also include written or narrated speaking notes. 114 of 146 presentations given between 2014 and 2018 are being analyzed for this study. 101 presentations were given by single students and the remaining 13 presentations were given by groups of two to four students.
METHOD: Using a conventional content analysis approach (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005), the researchers developed an analytic guide to identify categories of topics addressed in the presentations. The researchers individually analyzed four presentations and collectively shared their results to illuminate similarities and differences and reach consensus in their categorization approach. The research team then refined the analytic guide and repeated the individual analysis and collective consensus-building process for the remaining 110 presentations. Based on this initial analysis, the research team identified categories that were most frequently addressed across presentations. In the first quarter of 2019, the research team will conduct a summative content analysis within each category to develop deeper understandings about the domains of impact highlighted by previous SOTI participants.
RESULTS: A majority of student presentations expressed the impact of the SOTI program relative to the following domains: developing relationships with international peers, expanding conceptions of occupational therapy, and deepening knowledge of specific theoretical and intervention approaches.
CONCLUSION: This ongoing content analysis suggests that the SOTI program may promote diversity and strengthen international networks among future occupational therapists. Results from the summative content analysis will inform the development of broader goals and assessments (Green, 2012) for future iterations of the SOTI program, providing one model for internationalized occupational therapy education that meets pressing professional needs.
References
Aldrich, R. (2018). Internationalizing occupational therapy education: Designing opportunities for critical engagement across cultures. Accepted for publication in S. Taff, B. Hooper, & L. Grajo (Eds.), Perspectives in Occupational Therapy Education. Thorofare, NJ: Slack.
Green, M. F. (2012). Measuring and assessing internationalization. NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Retrieved from http://www.usask.ca/secretariat/governing-bodies/council/committee/international/reports-archive/NAFSAMeasuringInternationalization.pdf
Hammell, K. W. (2015). Respecting global wisdom: Enhancing the cultural relevance of occupational therapy’s theoretical base. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 78(11), 718-721. doi:10.1177/0308022614564170
Hsieh, H-F, & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277-1288. doi:10.1177/1049732305276687
