Understanding occupation-based practice among Thai occupational therapy students: A mixed-methods study
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Abstract
Background: In Thailand, Occupation-based practice (OBP) has been emphasized in the curriculum of outcome-based education for Chiang Mai occupational therapy students towards the revised bachelor curriculum year 2021; however, it was essential in how they comprehensively understand and skills implementation in recent years.
Objective: The aim of this study was to explore an understanding of OBP among Thai occupational therapy students towards their clinical fieldwork and classroom experience.
Materials and methods: This study used a convergent mixed method by collecting data with a forty-item developed self-assessment questionnaire of the clinical fieldwork experience from third- and fourth-year students and employing focus group interviews with first- to fourth-year students between September and October 2022. Descriptive statistics were analyzed for seventy-five return questionnaires. Thirty-eight participants participated in a total of nine focus group interviews, and the qualitative data were analyzed by content and thematic analyses. Both sets of data were merged. An interpretation with six levels (remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating) of cognitive domains of Bloom’s revised taxonomy was used.
Results: The understanding of OBP in the clinical fieldwork experience years has ≥66.7% for all items within high self-assessment of understanding OBP in the six levels: 90.67%, 81.33%, 86.4%, 79.93%, 85.33%, and 83.47%, respectively. Two main themes, firstly, Occupation as the central focus of practice, and secondly, Importance of theoretical knowledge and experience, are presented. Analyzing, evaluating, and
creating levels of a high cognitive domain were revealed in fourth-year students, while remembering, understanding, and applying levels were basic cognitive domains that support the students’ understanding of OBP.
Conclusion: The results indicate an average comprehension of OBP in a high percentage, over 75% for overall levels with the supportive two themes, which is further useful in improving outcome-based learning and teaching of the occupational therapy curriculum.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Personal views expressed by the contributors in their articles are not necessarily those of the Journal of Associated Medical Sciences, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University.
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