The absence of clearly defined competencies to guide the development of educational programs for occupational therapy and physical therapy fieldwork instructors provided the impetus for this research. A primary objective of the study was to identify the competency categories and the competencies which occupational therapy and physical therapy fieldwork instructors, and occupational therapy and physical therapy students perceived to be important in determining the effectiveness of a student's fieldwork experience.
A review of the literature in occupational therapy, physical therapy, and related health professions identified a pool of fieldwork instructor competencies from which 105 competencies were selected for the study questionnaire. The questionnaire was administered to 34 occupational therapy and 37 physical therapy students from the University of British Columbia, and to 59 occupational therapy and 76 physical therapy fieldwork instructors in British Columbia. A response rate of 87% was obtained.
Respondents' ratings of importance of the competency categories and of the most important competencies were similar to previous research findings. Communication and supervisory behaviours were rated as most important in contributing to the effectiveness of a student's fieldwork experience. The majority of the competencies which were ranked as most important belonged to these two categories. Consistent with previous research, the professional competence category and the competencies which were assigned to it were deemed least important in contributing to the effectiveness of a student's fieldwork experience.
Group differences in ratings of importance were tested using a factorial design. The two-way and three-way analyses of variance, a multivariate analysis of variance and subsequent multiple comparison tests revealed only one significant main effect. Physical therapy students' ratings of importance differed significantly from the occupational therapy and physical therapy fieldwork instructors (p< .05). While this significant difference was identified from the analysis, examination of the mean ratings of the competencies showed a consistent pattern of low, moderate or high ratings among all of the groups.
Participants in the study confirmed that the competencies included in the questionnaire were important in contributing to the effectiveness of a student's fieldwork experience. However, the literature suggests that the most important outcome will be the use of the competencies to guide the development of standardized educational programs for occupational therapy and physical therapy fieldwork instructors. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/26911 |
| Date | January 1987 |
| Creators | Ryan, Susan Jennifer |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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