What makes a quality occupational therapy practice placement? Students’ and practice educators’ perspectives

Abstract

This article synthesises the perspectives of these stakeholder groups and has led to the development of quality indicators across the phases of placement establishment, preparation, maintenance and review. Although having sufficient placements can be challenging for university programmes, ensuring that the experiences provided are of high quality is also important and requires significant attention by university academics and practice education staff, practice educators, managers and practice organisations alike.

Occupational therapy students’ self-efficacy, experience of supervision, and perception of meaningfulness of Level II fieldwork

“…This study supports the results of other studies in which the supervisor's supportive relationship was helpful for student success (Lew et al, 2007;Rodger et al, 2011). These findings suggest a need to continue to support fieldwork educators in the area of supervision skills to foster emerging self-efficacy in OT students (Crist, 2011).…”

“…Therefore, it will be important to include the experience of learning specific skills and knowledge that may be needed in particular settings, and how that may be related to student self-efficacy. To summarize, the literature review supports the study of relationships among perceived self-efficacy, the experience of supervision, the meaningfulness of fieldwork, and demographic variables of the OT students (Crist, 2007;Crist, 2011;Dale, 2001;Derdall et al, 2002;James & Musselman, 2005;Lew et al, 2007;Rodger, Fitzgerald, Davila, Millar, & Allison, 2011). …”

“…A key finding of the study was that previous professional experience in a related setting was positively related to perceived self-efficacy. The literature identifies worker readiness and comfort with the worker role during fieldwork as an area in need of development for OT students, and this area warrants further research (Rodger et al, 2011). This finding might influence OT program admission criteria through rating previous professional experience as part of the OT program application and might inform academic curriculum by building in more professional role development experiences.…”

“…Rodger, Fitzgerald, Davila, Millar, and Allison (2011) found that supervisors' traits associated with fieldwork learning included timely and constructive feedback, supportive communication, and guidance in skill development.…”

Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Fieldwork Educator Practices and Preferences in Clinical Education

“…A connection between didactic education and field experience is facilitated not only by the fieldwork educator's professional knowledge but also by his or her ability as an educator to facilitate a student learning experience (Rodger, Fitzgerald, Davila, Millar, & Allison, 2011). Understanding a student's learning style, grading student exposure to more challenging areas of practice, encouraging self-directed learning, and providing balanced and timely feedback are consistent indicators of quality supervision and significantly influence student learning (Koski, Simon, & Dooley, 2013;Rodger et al, 2014;Towns & Ashby, 2014).…”