The effectiveness of 3d printing technology course on attitudes of occupational therapy students-a controlled study

Abstract

There is interest in three-dimensional (3D) printing technology, but views on the integration of these technologies into business and education vary. It is crucial to determine how the introduction of new technologies will impact the attitudes of occupational therapy undergraduate students. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine the effect of using this technology in the assistive technology (AT) lesson on the attitudes and acceptance of technology among students. This study was designed as a non-randomized controlled pretest and posttest control group study. The intervention group consisted of second-year undergraduate students (n = 50) enrolled in a compulsory “AT course,” while the control group consisted of third-year undergraduate students (n = 41) who had completed the AT course in the previous academic year. The intervention involved participants attending a 3D printing course in combination with an 8-week AT course. A Modified Technology Acceptance Model (M-TAM) questionnaire was used to assess students’ acceptance of 3D printing technology. The related study observed that experiencing and practicing new technologies, such as 3D printing and modeling course in the intervention group AT lesson effectively increased the acceptability of these new technologies that students encountered. The pre-post test analysis of the intervention group was statistically significant in all categories of the M-TAM questionnaire (p < 0.05). Compared to the control group, the effect size was small and moderate in all categories (p < 0.05). This course has increased student acceptance of this technology. Future studies should examine the long-term effects of such courses on student attitudes.