Student perceptions of the learning environment in Norwegian occupational therapy education programs

Abstract

Background: To support students' motivation towards constructive and persistent study efforts, their learning environment needs attention.Aim: To develop knowledge about occupational therapy students' perceptions of the learning environment and assess whether identified differences between education programs were stable or changed across the three years of study.Methods: Norwegian occupational therapy students completed the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) while in their first, second and third years of study. Differences between programs were analyzed with multivariate and univariate analysis of variance.Results: Among the first-year students, perceptions of the learning environment differed significantly between the six programs on five out of six scales. Apart from a continued difference on overall study satisfaction, the initial differences were no longer significant one year later. Differences on three scales (emphasis on independence, appropriate workload and generic skills) were present in the third year of study.Conclusions and significance: Students' perceptions of the learning environment became more similar over time, during the first two years of study, possibly reflecting that the students have become more accustomed to the student role and to the culture and requirements of the education programs. However, differences between study sites reoccurring in the third year suggest that group-based comparisons of learning environment perceptions across time may be inconclusive.

Stable and unstable associations between learning environment factors and study approaches: two consecutive cross-sectional analyses of Norwegian occupational therapy students

“…The duration of the program is three years, with a minimum of 1/4 of the study program (i.e. 5–6 months in total) being clinical practice studies (Thordardottir et al, 2020 ). The occupational therapy students typically participated in diverse study activities, such as traditional lectures, seminars, case studies, problem-based, team-based, project-based learning, and individual self-organized studies.…”

“…A national inquiry in Norway has so far expanded the knowledge about occupational therapy students’ perceptions of the learning environment (Stigen et al, 2022 ; Thordardottir et al, 2020 ) and approaches to studying (Gramstad et al, 2020 ; Mørk et al, 2020 , 2022 ; Thørrisen et al, 2020 ) during the three years of study. One of these studies constitutes a particularly interesting backdrop for this study, because it examined associations between perceptions of the learning environment and approaches to studying among the students while in their first year of the study program (Mørk et al, 2020 ).…”

Predictors of students’ participation in a learning environment survey with annual follow-ups

“…Higher scores on the scales indicate that the respondent perceives the course to have (1) clearly established and disseminated goals; (2) high levels of student autonomy and independence; (3) teaching that engages and involves the students; (4) a workload that is not too high; (5) assessment forms that promote and support learning; and the course is felt to (6) support the transfer of content knowledge and skills to the relevant work context. Among the participants in the first wave (first-year students), internal consistency of the scales was 0.73 (clear goals and standards), 0.63 (emphasis on independence), 0.70 (good teaching), 0.69 (appropriate workload), 0.45 (appropriate assessment), and 0.83 (generic skills) [ 21 ]. In view of the internal consistency results, subsequent analyses of the ‘appropriate assessment’ scale were not pursued.…”

Psychometric properties and associations between subscales of a study approach measure

“…The study is a sub‐study of a larger study of occupational therapy students. The research project as a whole is a longitudinal study of study approaches (Gramstad et al, 2020; Mørk et al, 2020) and the perceived learning environment (Bonsaksen et al, 2019; Bonsaksen, Gramstad, Mørk, & Johnson, 2019; Thordardottir et al, 2020; Thygesen et al, 2020) among undergraduate occupational therapy students in Norway. One student cohort was followed‐up with one annual survey in each of their 3 study years.…”