Perceptions of Occupational Therapy Students and Faculty of Compressed Courses: A Pilot Study

Abstract

As occupational therapists, our mandate is to be client centered, yet in academic settings there is little information regarding student or faculty preferences about curriculum and course design. This study investigated the perceptions of occupational therapy students and faculty regarding the delivery of content in a compressed course format, thus reducing the number of courses taken at any given time. The authors discuss how the results inform the feasibility of incorporating this format into future curriculum design. A descriptive survey design was used for this study. The participants were 33 entry-level graduate students and two faculty who completed post-course surveys for two courses. The results show that overall perceptions of students and faculty were positive regarding the compressed course format. The students had fewer courses to focus on and faculty had increased time to devote to other responsibilities. This study provides preliminary evidence for the feasibility of alternative curriculum design in the future and lays the foundation for further research in occupational therapy curriculum design. It directly responds to the needs identified by the American Occupational Therapy Association in the occupational therapy education research agenda.