Exploring Changes in Occupational Therapy Students' Approaches to Learning during Pre-Registration Education

Abstract

This article describes a longitudinal cohort study, which examined the preferred approaches to learning of pre-registration occupational therapy students (N = 55) as they progressed through the 3 years of an undergraduate BSc(Hons) programme. The students' orientations to learning were measured using the short Approaches to Studying Inventory (ASI) (Entwistle 1981) and the results were compared descriptively across repeat measures undertaken during each year of study. Inferential statistics were used to examine whether there were any statistically significant differences in preferred learning approaches throughout the 3 years of study. The results showed moderate changes in learning approaches, which were associated with more successful outcomes of learning. The evidence of the use of these deeper approaches to learning was accompanied by statistically significant decreases in the less desirable, superficial approaches, with reductions in the mean scores between year one and year three for Operation Learning (p < 0.005) and Learning Pathologies (p < 0.05). The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to learning and teaching and assessment methods in undergraduate health professional education. Students may be encouraged to become more independent and to develop deeper approaches to learning by reducing formal contact time and developing assessment strategies that emphasise the exploration and application of knowledge.