Date Presented Accepted for AOTA INSPIRE 2021 but unable to be presented due to online event limitations.
The health and safety of OT clientele demand students' proficiency in a multitude of evaluation and intervention approaches. Subsequently, educators must use evidence-based instructional approaches to facilitate efficient high-quality learning. In this research presentation, we discuss a randomized controlled educational intervention designed to train entry-level OT students how to evaluate the accessibility of community spaces.
Primary Author and Speaker: Jaclyn K. Schwartz
Additional Authors and Speakers: Roger O. Smith, Suzanne Burns, Rochelle Mendonca, and Ingris Treminio
Contributing Authors: Alyssa Jindracek, Tori Stokes, and Jordann Young
PURPOSE: To become competent entry level practitioners, occupational therapy (OT) students are expected to be able to skillfully deploy a variety of evaluation and intervention approaches for a multitude of diagnostic populations across practice settings (Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education [ACOTE®], 2018). This requires occupational therapy educators to instruct students on a high volume of information in a short period of time. Subsequently, high-impact evidence-based instructional approaches are needed. Unfortunately, there is limited research describing optimal instructional methods for occupational therapy students (AOTA, 2018). The purpose of this study is to understand the impact on student knowledge of two commonly use educational methods, 1) a self-paced learning module and 2) a hands-on lab.
DESIGN: In this randomized controlled trial, students were randomized to either complete the learning module and then the lab or the lab and then the learning module. The learning module engaged students in a multimedia experience to learn about community accessibility evaluation. The hands-on lab asked students to evaluate the accessibility of a building using a standardized assessment. Student knowledge was assessed at three time points 1) prior to any learning module or lab, 2) after the first activity, and 3) after both the module and the lab were completed. The research was conducted as part of typical classroom instruction on the topic of community accessibility evaluation. All of the students in the course were invited to share their data as part of the research study through the informed consent process.
METHOD: Student knowledge was assessed in a two-part assessment. First, students completed a quiz related to information covered to the learning module. Second, students were given an image and asked to complete a short answer question describing accessibility issues present in the photo. Descriptive statistics were used to describe demographic factors and student knowledge. Student's t tests were used to evaluate changes to student knowledge after each part of the educational experience.
RESULTS: Forty-six students completed the learning activity. The learning module alone was associated with an 18-percentage point improvement t(22) = 9.70, p = .00. The lab alone was associated with a 14-percentage point improvement t(22) = 6.23, p = .00. The lab and lecture combined were associated with a 22-percentage point improvement t(45) = 15.44, p = .00.
CONCLUSION: The self-paced learning module, the hands-on lab, and the module lab combination all significantly improved student knowledge of community accessibility evaluation. The Occupational Therapy Research Agenda denotes the importance of evaluating instructional methods (AOTA, 2018). These findings are important to occupational therapy educational practice because they support the use of commonly used instructional methods. Evaluation of the impact of each component of educational intervention can help educators to prioritize and plan learning experiences in a full curriculum.
References
Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education. (2018). 2018 Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE®) standards and interpretive guide. Retrieved from https://www.aota.org/∼/media/Corporate/Files/EducationCareers/Accredit/StandardsReview/2018-ACOTE-Standards-Interpretive-Guide.pdf
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2018). Occupational therapy education research agenda–revised. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 72, 7212420070.
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2018). Philosophy of Occupational Therapy Education. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 72, 7212410070.
Zychlinski, E., Ben-Ezra, M., & Raz, Y. H. (2016). Changing attitudes about disability: The impact of the ‘Accessible Community’ program. Journal of Social Work, 16(6), 742-757.
