Background: Aspects of the learning environment may be related to students`approaches to studying, but few studies have investigated these relationships in the context of occupational therapy education. Objective: To examine associations between occupational therapy students' perceptions of the learning environment and their approaches to studying. Method: One hundred eighty-seven first-year occupational therapy students in Norway (response rate 61.3%) participated in this study. Aside from sociodemographic information, the students completed the Course Experience Questionnaire and the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students. Associations between learning environment variables and study approaches were investigated with hierarchical linear regression analyses. Results: Higher scores on Generic skills were associated with higher scores on the deep and strategic approach scales (β ranging 0.18-0.51), while lower scores were associated with higher surface approach scale scores (β = − 0.24). Lower scores on Clear goals and standards and Appropriate workload were associated with higher surface approach scores (β ranging − 0.16-0.42). Conclusion: By improving aspects of the learning environment, there may be a potential for influencing occupational therapy students' approaches to studying. Based on this study, emphasizing how generic skills developed in the study program may become useful in practising a profession, ensuring clarity of goals and standards, and maintaining an appropriate workload on students appear to be important.

Background: With the Coordination Reform Act initiated in 2012, Norwegian occupational therapists in municipal practice have been given responsibilities concerning clients with cognitive impairments. With emphasis on supporting best practice, the aim was to investigate the practice of Norwegian municipal occupational therapists (OTs) in their assessment of clients with cognitive impairments. Method: An online questionnaire was used to collect data from 497 of 1367 OTs in Norwegian municipalities (RR ¼ 36%) Results: The most frequently used methods were informal interviews (91%), observations (91%) and standardized assessments (73%). The most frequently used standardized assessments were the Clock Drawing test (60%) and the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE 59%). The most common reasons for using standardized assessments were to get a better foundation for initiating interventions (74%), to get more reliable results (64%) and to measure the effect of interventions (47%). The most common reasons for not using standardized assessments were that they did not have competence (49%) or that they did not have access to the materials (40%). Conclusion:The results indicate that there are challenges when it comes to the methods and standardized assessments used. These findings invite further research on enabling municipal OTs to move further towards evidence-based practice. ARTICLE HISTORY

Background Relationships between students’ academic performance and their employed study approaches have been studied extensively. However, research using study approaches and learning environment factors as concurrent predictors of academic performance is sparse. There is a need to disentangle the potentially interrelated influences of individual and contextual factors on students’ academic performance. Objective This study aimed to increase the understanding of the associations between occupational therapy students’ academic performance, and their approaches to studying, perceptions of the learning environment, and sociodemographic characteristics. Method A cross-sectional study was designed, and 174 first-year students completed the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students and the Course Experience Questionnaire, in addition to background information. Data on grades were collected from the data registries of each education institution, and associations were analyzed by multiple linear regression. Results None of the learning environment scales were associated with grades. Adjusting for all variables, better exam results were associated with being female (β = 0.22, p < 0.01) and having higher scores on strategic approach (β = 0.31, p < 0.001) and lower scores on surface approach (β = -0.20, p < 0.01). Conclusion The study suggests that students with a desire for obtaining good grades ought to use strategic study behaviors and avoid using surface approach behaviors. While it is important to ensure good quality of the learning environment for a variety of reasons, the learning environment did not contribute significantly to explain the students’ academic performance.

This study illustrated a conflicted practice related to choices OTs make in their practices. They valued the importance of working occupation based, however, they chose to use impairment based standardized assessments. They expressed a need to engage in professional development, but due to heavy workloads, the limited power they experienced and lack of knowledge, this was difficult.

Purpose Student satisfaction is an important indicator of educational quality in higher education institutions. Learning environment factors are assumed to play a role in determining student satisfaction. The purpose of this study is to examine the intrinsic relationships between five learning environment scales embedded within one measure; and examine the associations between each of these scales and an overall measure of education program satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach In this cross-sectional study, 175 first-year occupational therapy students in Norway completed sociodemographic information and the Course Experience Questionnaire. The data were analyzed with Pearson’s correlation coefficient r and with linear regression. Findings All intrinsic associations between the learning environment scales were positive. In the adjusted analysis, higher education program satisfaction was significantly associated with higher scores on “clear goals and standards,” “emphasis on independence” and “good teaching.” The final model accounted for 45.0% of the outcome variance, of which the scores on the learning environment scales contributed 41.8%. Originality/value The learning environment is vital for student satisfaction. More specifically, efforts to improve student satisfaction may include strengthening student-focused teaching, strengthening the autonomy of the students, and ensuring that the goals and standards of courses are clear and easy to understand.