Impacting Occupational Therapy Assistant Student Knowledge about Occupation and Occupation-Based Practice

• Main Authors: Allen S. Keener, Cynthia L. Hayden, Dana M. Howell
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Western Michigan University 2021-04-01
• Series: Open Journal of Occupational Therapy
• Subjects: occupational therapy and substance use disorder; model of human occupation screening tool; occupational therapy and mental health
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/ojot/vol9/iss2/10/
• ISSN: 2168-6408; 2168-6408

It is important for occupational therapy assistant (OTA) programs to teach about occupation and occupation-based practice (OBP). Few have published on this topic in relation to OTA education. This study focuses on determining if an educational module covering occupation and OBP would increase student knowledge of occupation and occupation-based practice. In this mixed-methods parallel convergent study, OTA students were immersed in an author-designed educational module to increase their knowledge of occupation, OBP, and the selection of occupation-based interventions. The students engaged in pretesting activities, prior to the module, consisting of short-answer essay and intervention selection tasks. At the conclusion of the module, the students completed posttest activities. The study results demonstrated significant learning in the areas of occupation, OBP, and the selection of occupation-based interventions. Quantitative analysis indicated a statistically significant increase in student learning, and qualitative analysis revealed increased levels of performance, when classified according to Bloom’s Taxonomy. This study addresses a gap in the OTA education literature by showing evidence that use of the learning module increased OTA student knowledge of occupation, OBP, and the ability to select occupation-based interventions. This module was an efficient and effective method of meeting accreditation standards related to OTA education.