Date Presented Accepted for AOTA INSPIRE 2021 but unable to be presented due to online event limitations.
The authors developed and administered a survey of occupational participation to OT students to gather data regarding what occupations students engage in. OT students (N = 106) around the United States responded to the survey through social media. Results demonstrate the preferences and variety of occupational participation. The knowledge gained through this study can be used by educators to build a bridge to the occupations that students are participating in.
Primary Author and Speaker: Aaron Bonsall
Additional Authors and Speakers: Justine Collado Gonzales, Jeanie Fairchild
PURPOSE: Differences in generational factors influence values across populations, distinguishing each generation from the one before and requiring educators to match practices and theories with the needs of students (Buskirk-Cohen, Duncan, & Levicoff, 2016). Recent educators have called for deeper understanding of the concepts of occupations in occupational therapy students (Krishnagiri et al, 2017) and an emphasis on occupations in education so that students can find meaning in their lives, which would that is translated to clients in the future (Price et al., 2017). While teaching and learning preferences of generation Y have been studied (Hills et al 2016), little attention has been paid to the occupations of current students. To fully focus on and teach occupations, first, a bridge of understanding across generations must be created. The purpose of this paper is to identify the occupations of students to create a platform that will allow educators to build on those occupations students are participating in.
DESIGN: The authors developed and distributed a survey of occupational participation to occupational therapy students through social media. Respondents were recruited through Facebook and personal contacts. All surveys were filled out anonymously online through Qualtrics.
METHODS: This survey was developed based on descriptions of occupations within the OTPF and current research. Respondents described their participation in 18 categories of occupations. A Likert scale (never, rarely, occasionally, frequently, very frequently) was used for students to identify their level of participation in each occupation. For each of the 18 categories of occupations, respondents were asked an open-ended question about the specific occupations they participate in. Additionally, general demographic data was collected. Descriptive statistics are given for demographic data and ratings of the frequency of participation for each occupational category. Qualitative data regarding specific occupations in each category were coded for common themes within each occupation by two of the researchers. These themes were then discussed and refined by all three researchers.
RESULTS: Respondents included 106 OTA, MSOT, and OTD students with over half being from an MSOT program. Millennials (23-38) made up 69.8% of respondents, 6.6% were over 38, and 23.6% fell into Generation Z (22 and under). Following trends in occupational therapy, 91.5% of respondents were female. Respondents' geographic regions were evenly distributed throughout the United States Frequency of engagement in each of the 18 occupational categories and qualitative analysis of participants' descriptions of those occupations are presented in the results. Areas that stand out are high frequency of participation in physical activity and care of others, a wide range of arts and crafts activities participated in, and a wide variation in definitions of religious and spiritual occupations.
DISCUSSION: This study demonstrates the wide variety of occupations that students participate in and the frequencies of these occupations. The developed tool could be used by students to facilitate an understanding of their own occupations and by educators to build on the students' occupational engagement. The knowledge gained in this study can be used by educators to build a bridge to the occupations that students are participating in.
References
Buskirk-Cohen, A. A., Duncan, T. A., & Levicoff, M. (2016). Using generational theory to rethink teaching in higher education. Teaching in Higher Education, 21(1), 25-36.
Hills, C., Levett-Jones, T., Warren-Forward, H., & Lapkin, S. (2016). Teaching and learning preferences of ‘generation y’occupational therapy students in practice education. International Journal of Therapy and rehabilitation, 23(8), 371-379.
Krishnagiri, S., Hooper, B., Price, P., Taff, S. D., & Bilics, A. (2017). Explicit or hidden? Exploring how occupation is taught in occupational therapy curricula in the United States. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 71(2), 7102230020.
Price, P., Hooper, B., Krishnagiri, S., Taff, S. D., & Bilics, A. (2017). A way of seeing: How occupation is portrayed to students when taught as a concept beyond its use in therapy. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 71(4), 7104230010.
