In recent years, occupational therapy education has been evolving due to educational trends such as blended learning. Blended learning is a combination of both synchronous and asynchronous learning that occurs online as well as in a brick-and-mortar setting. Little is known regarding occupational therapy educators' self-efficacy to teach in a…

This dissertation focused on sustainable development (SD), curricular development, and practices in the health professions, specifically in occupational therapy practice. It is divided into five chapters. The first chapter provides background information, the second chapter uses the [C]STAUNCH tool to analyze the degree of sustainable development…

The American Occupational Therapy Association's (AOTA) Vision 2025 is a call to action for the occupational therapy profession to maximize the health, well-being, and quality of life of all people, populations, and communities through effective solutions that facilitate participation in everyday living (American Occupational Therapy Association,…

"It's Better This Way" examined the cultural relevance of an educator's Hip-Hop identity for Black students enrolled within an occupational therapy program at a historically Black university. Furthermore, this study explored if Black students and alumni of the occupational therapy program felt empowered by the exhibition of the…

Current literature has highlighted various teaching methodologies that have been utilized within higher education that may assist with promoting learning. This literature identifies team-based learning and the flipped classroom as common teaching strategies utilized within allied medical fields such as occupational therapy, physical therapy,…

This applied dissertation was designed to investigate student responses to three different instructional strategies used to fulfill level I fieldwork requirements: traditional in-clinic rotation, a combination of virtual simulation and traditional in-clinic rotations, and virtual simulation. A multi-decade occupational therapy (OT) fieldwork…

The education of students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment is mandated by law and supported by empirical research. Yet systems of segregation persist and, in Arkansas, at rates higher than the national average. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to examine the practices of successful inclusion-focused…

Empathy and client-centeredness are aspects of professionalism essential to the effectiveness of occupational therapy services. As such, both are key components of the educational process of occupational therapy students, as highlighted by the integration of both concepts in the standards set forth by the accrediting body of occupational therapy…

Within the profession of occupational therapying the United States, there is a need to increase the amount of underrepresented minority groups to coincide with the growing population of minorities. Black, Hispanics, and Asians respectively represent less than 10% of each ethnic group within the profession of occupational therapy. This explanatory…

Occupational therapy education standards have recently changed to require students to demonstrate knowledge and use of the safe and effective application of physical agents. This change, which occurred in 2020, is more rigorous in the area of deep thermal and electrotherapeutic agents than in previous revisions. This mixed-methods convergent study…

Due to the nature of the complexity of the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), elementary-aged students with this disorder require a holistic, team-based approach to education in the school setting. A review of current literature has found that while interprofessional collaborative practice (ICP) in the school setting is effective and…

With changes in cadaver availability, ongoing innovations in technology, and rising pedagogical changes, the field of anatomy education is amidst adaptations. In the field of occupational therapy (OT) education, anatomy is often part of the core curriculum. The problem was the limited literature on technology tools being used by educators in OT…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the behaviors indicative of professional thinking in entry-level occupational therapists and the teaching methodologies used to facilitate professional thinking during education as described by a sample of experienced occupational therapy educators. The researcher used The Model of Professional…

Occupational therapists work with special education and general education students in public school settings to address the students' ability to fully participate in the educational environment. While existing literature focuses on the role of the occupational therapist in school-based practice, as well as teachers' perceptions of that role, there…

Virtual reality refers to the technology used to create multi-sensory, three-dimensional environments its users can interact with. Occupational therapists may find virtual reality-based therapy appealing as it allows them to access many virtual environments and tasks that would be difficult to recreate in traditional settings. Despite literature…