Scholarship and Research in Occupational Therapy Education

Abstract

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to identify a baseline or benchmark for faculty engagement and productivity in occupational therapy education scholarship and research. METHOD. A custom-designed survey was emailed to 2,225 faculty members. The survey included questions on basic demographic information and education scholarship (e.g., use of evidence to inform teaching, frequency and nature of involvement in education scholarship. RESULTS. A total of 520 faculty members (23%) completed the survey. Of these, 450 (86.5%) identified themselves as full-time core faculty, and only their responses were analyzed. Although 90% of the faculty respondents engaged in scholarly teaching, only 34% identified education as an area of content expertise, and only 16% reported frequent involvement with education scholarship. Instructional methods were the primary area of study. CONCLUSION. A need exists to build research capacity for education research and more diversification of education research topics, including professional socialization and competencies.

Identifying Instructional Methods for Development of Clinical Reasoning in Entry-Level Occupational Therapy Education: A Mixed Methods Design

“…Occupational therapy education is accountable to higher education to meet educational outcomes and to society to produce competent practitioners (Gupta & Bilics, 2014;Schaber, 2014). In the healthcare environment, there is pressure to hire professionals who can serve a variety of individuals with complex needs in various practice settings (Coker, 2010).…”

“…Occupational therapists must use clinical reasoning to deliver clientcentered and occupation-based services that are grounded in theory and evidence to meet these complex needs (American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 2015). Therefore, occupational therapy education must provide contemporary and evidence-based educational practices that yield graduates with the relevant skills for successful practice in dynamic and challenging environments (Burke & Harvison, 2014;Coker, 2010;Furze et al, 2015;Gupta & Bilics, 2014).…”

Launching the Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

“…It has taken time for SOTL to gain respect among researchers, academicians, and administrators (Boshier, 2009;Schroeder, 2007). However, many foundations, professional organizations, and institutions of higher learning are supportive of SOTL, one example being its inclusion in promotion and tenure guidelines at some universities (Gupta & Bilics, 2014;Pace, 2004). Indeed, AOTA recognizes SOTL as a valid form of research within the profession (AOTA, 2016) and has included research goals related to educational theory building, pedagogy, instructional methods, learner characteristics and competencies, socialization to the profession, and faculty development and resources in the Occupational Therapy Education Research Agenda (2014).…”

“…Gupta and Bilics (2014) advocated for a core group ("third branch"; p. S91) of occupational therapy education researchers dedicated to investigating the central characteristics of occupational therapy education. The occupational therapy profession needs focused research to understand the most effective means of teaching students to understand the highly complex topic of occupation, and how to apply occupation-based practice in a variety of health care settings and to people with diverse diagnoses.…”

Factors Associated with Academic Performance Among Second-Year Undergraduate Occupational Therapy Students

“…There is a need to build a research capacity for education research (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2014; Gupta & Bilics, 2014), and research concerned with occupational therapy education needs to address students' characteristics and competencies as well as their socialization into the profession (Hooper, 2016). These issues may vary considerably; for example, between cultural and geographical contexts, between levels of education (entry-level vs. graduate level), and between students in different years of study.…”