Fieldwork Education Research Articles

The Present State of Fieldwork Education and the Problems of Psychiatric Occupational Therapy in South Korea

The Present State of Fieldwork Education and the Problems of Psychiatric Occupational Therapy in South Korea

Behavioral Health Competence: An Exploration of Army Reserve Occupational Therapists

In this study the behavioral health competence of Army Reserve occupational therapists (OTs) was examined by the authors through electronic survey to determine current levels of competence and highlight pre-deployment training needs. Results indicated that while Army Reserve OTs report high levels of behavioral health competence, many questions regarding diagnosis, assessment, evaluation, treatment planning, intervention, and progress arose throughout deployment. OTs often relied on skills from Level II fieldwork education and entry-level didactic education for competency. Perceived competencies may be compromised by curriculum changes in entry-level education, available fieldwork settings, and a lack of adequate training currently available prior to deployment.

Escaping the ‘Field Trap’: exploitation and the global politics of educational fieldwork in ‘conflict zones’

There is a growing global demand for Northern universities to provide fieldwork opportunities in ‘conflict zones’ to students in applied International Relations (peace and conflict studies, post-conflict studies, human rights, development and related fields). This demand is generated in macro-level or structural dynamics emerging from three sources: the hiring criteria of major international organisations, competition between universities for fee-paying students and the social commodification of ‘authentic’ or ‘real’ life experience. At the micro level these dynamics can manifest themselves in exploitative relations, two of which are explored here. First, substantial inequalities (or a ‘benefit gap’) may arise between student researchers and their research subjects. Second, student researchers may find themselves in extractive relations with their research subjects. These dynamics lead to a situation in which some of the world’s most vulnerable people are objectified as learning resources for students enrolled in (predominantly Northern) universities. The article argues that these dynamics are a problem of global politics, not just research ethics or pedagogy. It concludes with recommendations for reducing the potential for exploitation in educational fieldwork.

Enhancing fieldwork learning with technology: practitioner's perspectives

This research paper reports the findings from an international survey of fieldwork practitioners on their use of technology to enhance fieldwork teaching and learning. It was found that there was high information technology usage before and after time in the field, but some were also using portable devices such as smartphones and global positioning system whilst out in the field. The main pedagogic reasons cited for the use of technology were the need for efficient data processing and to develop students' technological skills. The influencing factors and barriers to the use of technology as well as the importance of emerging technologies are discussed.

Follow the Judas sheep: materializing post-qualitative methodology in zooethnographic space

What becomes of education when performed in a slaughterhouse? Drawing on Raunig’s Marxian–Deleuzian treatise on the machine, the article configures the veterinary education curriculum and the animal production system as two symbiotic apparatuses connected by innumerable flows, routes, movements, rhythms, and passages. Using critical posthumanist analyses to work through empirical material from zooethnographic fieldwork in veterinary education, the article maps how human and animal subjectivities are formed along with crisscrossing biochoreographies of pedagogical and animal production rituals in intimate interplay. The article argues that as education becomes materially enclosed in the process of animal slaughter, teaching becomes distributed among human and nonhuman actants, students (and the education researcher) become a collective human component, or prosthesis, of the slaughter apparatus, and pedagogy itself becomes a prosthesis of slaughter. As student affect is recruited in the “educationalization” of violence, students’ expressions of abjection in the slaughterhouse may be configured as an integral and necessary part of, rather than a disturbing side-effect of, slaughter education. At an epistemological level, this indicates that critical posthumanist inquiry accommodates a particular potential to bring forth “the edges” in qualitative education research.

Relationship between clinical fieldwork educator performance and health professional students' perceptions of their practice education learning environments

The Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure, Clinical Teaching Effectiveness Instrument, and Clinical Learning Environment Inventory were completed by 548 undergraduate students (54.5% response rate) enrolled in eight health professional bachelor degree courses. Regression analysis was used to investigate the significant predictors of the Clinical Teaching Effectiveness Instrument with the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure and Clinical Learning Environment Inventory subscales as independent variables. The results indicated that the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure and Clinical Learning Environment Inventory Actual version subscale scores explained 44% of the total variance in the Clinical Teaching Effectiveness Instrument score. The Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure subscale Academic Self-Perception explained 1.1% of the variance in the Clinical Teaching Effectiveness Instrument score. The Clinical Learning Environment Inventory Actual subscales accounted for the following variance percentages in the Clinical Teaching Effectiveness Instrument score: personalization, 1.1%; satisfaction, 1.7%; task orientation, 5.1%; and innovation, 6.2%. Aspects of the clinical learning environment appear to be predictive of the effectiveness of the clinical teaching that students experience. Fieldwork educator performance might be a significant contributing factor toward student skill development and practitioner success.

Revalidation of an Evidence-Based Practice Scale for Social Work

The purpose of this study was to revalidate an existing measure of knowledge, attitudes, and use of evidence-based practice (EBP) developed for medical students. Adapted to reflect social work, questionnaires were obtained from undergraduate and graduate social work students (n = 134) and field instructors (n = 50). All 4 factors (21 items) related to EBP (knowledge, attitude, personal use, and future use) showed good reliability, and overall reliability was .86. MSW students rated their knowledge and use of EBP significantly higher than BSW students and field instructors did, but the groups were similar on attitudes and future use of EBP. The Knowledge, Attitudes, Behavior Scale questionnaire is a useful tool for social work programs that can be used to monitor the impact of EBP curricular efforts.

Barriers and enablers to clinical fieldwork education in rural public and private allied health practice

There is a need to maximise rural clinical fieldwork placement to build health workforce capacity. This study investigated allied health professionals' (AHPs) experience of supervising students as part of work-integrated learning in public and private rural health settings. An anonymous postal questionnaire with 30 questions was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data about the barriers and enablers that AHPs encounter when supervising students in their clinical setting. A total of 113 public and private AHPs from Southwest Victoria, Australia, returned the questionnaire. The AHPs were trained in the disciplines of occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech pathology, dietetics, podiatry or psychology. The majority of respondents (75%) had previously supervised students. Most respondents had only provided fieldwork education in the public sector. Allied health professionals working in public and private sectors had positive experiences with clinical fieldwork education and often had increased job satisfaction while supervising students. They experienced similar enablers to involvement in clinical fieldwork education programs, however the barriers they encountered were different. The findings highlight the differing issues between rural public and private settings that need to be addressed for successful clinical fieldwork education and work-integrated learning. Strategies to address the identified barriers need to be specific to the work conditions of each setting.

Urban fieldwork in geographical education in Levanger, Norway

Despite a long tradition of fieldwork and outdoor education in Norwegian schools, teachers and pupils are not familiar with conducting systematic field studies of modern urban environments. The authors of the present article are convinced that urban fieldwork ought to be included in the teaching syllabus in Norwegian schools, and for several years they have worked on developing urban fieldwork as a part of the study programme in teacher education at Nord-Trøndelag University College (Høgskolen in Nord-Trøndelag or HiNT). The fieldwork element has gradually been expanded, and in recent years pupils from neighbouring primary schools have participated in the programme. The use of ICT has increasingly become an important part of the work in the field as well as in the follow-up phase. Special emphasis has been put on the use of digital stories. The experiences of this work are presented and discussed in the article. In the final section of the article the authors discuss further development of urban fieldwork, paying particular attention to the use of new digital technology and enquiry approaches.

Advancing the use of theory in occupational therapy: A collaborative process / Promouvoir l’application de la théorie en ergothérapie : un processus de collaboration

Theory is important to the growth and evolution of occupational therapy. However, use of theory remains challenging for many therapists. The aim was to develop a process that occupational therapists could apply to advance theory in practice. Based on a review of the literature and using a qualitative instrumental case study design, 18 student occupational therapists and eight fieldwork educators completed online modules on the theory advancement concepts generated from the literature, wrote journals, and/or participated in online discussions during fieldwork. Following fieldwork, educators were interviewed and students participated in focus groups exploring their experiences. Directed content analysis was used to analyze the data. Based on the data collected, we developed the Theory Advancement Process (TAP). The TAP is composed of four primary contexts, a climate of collaborative relationships with four key elements, and four essential processes. The TAP presents a collaborative process for students, faculty, and therapists to work together to advance the use of theory in practice.

Emotional Intelligence, Self-Efficacy, and Occupational Therapy Students’ Fieldwork Performance

ABSTRACTThis study explored the relationship of emotional intelligence level and self-efficacy to fieldwork performance for occupational therapy students. Occupational therapy students (n = 199) from 36 occupational therapy programs in the United States completed the two surveys, the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test and the Student Confidence Questionnaire, during their professional Level 2 fieldwork placements. The surveys were compared to the Fieldwork Performance Evaluation for the Occupational Therapy Student completed by the fieldwork educators. Results showed that degree of emotional intelligence, having a choice in the fieldwork setting, and having professional experience in a related setting were positively correlated to Fieldwork Performance scores. Students’ self-efficacy was not related to Fieldwork Performance scores. This suggests fostering students’ emotional intelligence and capacity for accurate skill appraisal supports fieldwork success.

Promoting academic-practice partnerships through students' practice placement

Introduction: The notion of a gap between the academic and the practice segments of the occupational therapy profession is commonplace. The Scholarship of Practice is one of the collaboration models that have been introduced as possible means for bridging this gap, but so far, research based on this model has not extensively addressed the potential of students' clinical placement. Aim: With a view to possible remedies for the academic-practice gap, the purpose of this paper is to outline and discuss possible advantages from a collaborative project concerning the usefulness of the Assessment of Communication and Interaction Skills (ACIS) that was carried out between students, fieldwork educators, and university faculty. Outline of the project: Six occupational therapy students and their fieldwork educators collaborated in an exploration of the clinical usefulness of the ACIS during the students' second year mental health clinical placement. Experiences from the project were put into context with previous developments aimed at improving academic-practice partnerships. Discussion: The Scholarship of Practice model provides guidelines for reducing the research-practice gap in the occupational therapy profession. It is argued that the presented project adhered to the principles of practitioner-centredness and developing partnerships, whereas the creation of synergies was somewhat less realised. The organising of joint projects during practice placements, involving students, fieldwork educators, and university faculty, appears to be one method of increasing and improving relationships between the parties involved.

Valuable occupational therapy fieldwork educator behaviors

The purpose of this study was to investigate fieldwork educator behaviors that are valuable from the perspective of Level II occupational therapy and occupational therapist assistant students and fieldwork educators. 85 fieldwork educators and 37 students from Eastern and Western parts of the United States. The 5 competency categories of the Self Assessment Tool for Fieldwork Educator Competency were used as the basis for developing the survey items and data was analyzed with non-parametric statistics to check for differences among groups of respondents. Students and fieldwork educators generally ranked the value of the behaviors in the survey as the same. There were differences noted between responses of level II students on first, second, and third placements regarding supervision behaviors of fieldwork educators. (Chi square=6.59, p=0.04 and Chi square=7.95, p=0.02). The alignment of opinion of students and fieldwork educators is important in that it reinforces the common goal of academic programs, students, and fieldwork educators. More research needs to be done in order to understand the impact of placement order on the rankings of valued fieldwork educator behaviors.

Transformational Learning: Teaching Strategies that Promote Advocacy in Social Justice and Not-for-Profit Leadership

Social work education's field work, or signature pedagogy, provides an opportunity for students to take abstract knowledge and learned practice skills and integrate them in a real world setting. This field education has been criticized for neglecting several key components of the learning process. These components include social work management competencies, field experience in gaining such competencies, and developing leadership in not-for-profit agencies. In response, one program developed an in-house practicum in which the student intern serves as executive director in a social welfare club designed to mimic the organizational structure of a not-for-profit agency. This study examines, through a phenomenological focus, the transformational experiences of students serving their field placements in such a position, and examines the social welfare club's potential as a tool in social work education.

Specialty level II fieldwork in low vision rehabilitation

Low vision rehabilitation is an emerging practice area for the field of occupational therapy. As a result there is a need to develop tools and training for fieldwork educators in this practice area. Occupational therapists with no experience in low vision rehabilitation participated in the pilot of the tools and training developed. A literature review was completed in the areas of low vision rehabilitation and fieldwork education. Additional evidence was gathered for relevant training modules, methods, and organizational training and development tools. A best-practice model for specialty Level II fieldwork in low vision rehabilitation was then developed for a partnering site. Best-practice was defined as the triangulation of the research evidence, consensus from a panel of occupational therapists with specialty certification in low vision (SCLV) and academic fieldwork coordinators, and feedback from the partnering site. After three training sessions, the occupational therapists were able to achieve entry-level practice using the model developed. While the model was not intended for training therapists it proved successful with the occupational therapists trained with it. Therefore, it is expected that an occupational therapy student, completing a third specialty placement in low vision rehabilitation, would achieve this status during the twelve-week fieldwork placement.

Muscular dystrophy summer camp: A case study of a non-traditional level I fieldwork using a collaborative supervision model

A shortage of traditional medical fieldwork placements has been reported in the United States. Alternative settings are being sought to meet the Accreditation Standards for Level I fieldwork. This study was designed to examine and report the outcomes of an alternative pediatric camp setting, using a group model of supervision to fulfill the requirements for Level I fieldwork. Thirty-seven students from two Pennsylvania OT schools. Two cohorts of students were studied over a two year period using multiple methods of retrospective review and data collection. Students supervised in a group model experienced positive outcomes, including opportunities to deliver client centered care, and understanding the role of caregiving for children with disabilities. The use of a collaborative model of fieldwork education at a camp setting has resulted in a viable approach for the successful attainment of Level I fieldwork objectives for multiple students under a single supervisor.

Role strain in occupational therapy fieldwork educators

The purpose of this study was to determine if occupational therapy fieldwork educators are experiencing role strain. Were recruited from a convenience sample of a university database of 315 fieldwork sites. The Role Strain in Occupational Therapy Fieldwork Educators Inventory was used to gather qualitative and quantitative data about practice. The overall mean for role strain was 2.34/5 with a 73% return rate. The majority of participants fell into the moderate to low role strain category. Individuals with 5-10 years of practice had the greatest amount of role strain (2.43, SD 0.51, n=60). Participants working in pediatric settings had role strain in the moderate range. Nine items emerged with the highest amount of role strain, such as coping with job expectations and inadequate time to meet role expectations. Creation of strategies to reduce role strain should be a priority in our changing healthcare environment.

Assessment of fieldwork practice

Assessment of fieldwork is common to all occupational therapy courses. This form of competency based assessment has been researched across many healthcare professions. Work on the appraisal of fieldwork assessments used by occupational therapy courses in the United Kingdom is just beginning. At the present time there appears a gap in information concerning the experience of fieldwork assessment from the student’s perspective. This article seeks to address this by reporting the findings of a qualitative study of third year undergraduate occupational therapy students at University College Northampton to investigate their experience of being assessed on fieldwork.The results showed that students expressed high levels of acceptance with the primary fieldwork assessment, the fieldwork profile. However they displayed some concern about its reliability. A major influence on the assessment process was seen to be the fieldwork educator and the supervisory relationship. In general older students appeared to have a greater degree of control over both the assessment process and the supervisory relationship. As a result of the study it would appear that a national exploration of the assessments used to assess competence of occupational therapy graduates could be beneficial to the profession.

Implementing and evaluating an alternative model for training field work educators

In conjunction with academic social work educators, fieldwork supervisors are significant and influential instructors of emerging social work practitioners. This partnership is typically enhanced by universities offering training for fieldwork supervisors to assist and support them in their important roles. This can be challenging however in flexibly delivered programs where supervisors may be located in areas distant from the universities with which students are affiliated. Further, within the current human services context particularly in rural areas, fieldwork education is becoming increasingly subject to a range of organisational and policy imperatives that have the potential to limit the capacity of fieldwork supervisors to proactively engage with social work education This paper describes a pilot project developed and evaluated in Central Queensland Australia which aimed to address some of these challenges. A multi-facetted approach to training, mentoring and supporting fieldwork supervisors of social work students on practicum was developed and implemented across diverse organisational and geographical contexts. Findings of the evaluation and implications for fieldwork education are presented.

Improving practice learning

Undertaking practice placements (fieldwork instruction, agency-based practice learning) is an integral part of professional social work education and training across the United Kingdom. Scottish universities and partner social work service providers have however experienced long term challenges in an effort to ensure that an adequate number of practice placements were available to meet the student demand. Particularly well documented are the problems associated with a shortfall in the number of active practice teachers (fieldwork educators and practice learning facilitators) and agency settings willing to take a student.Less is known however about the impact of a shortfall of practice placements has on social work students themselves. This article outlines the findings of a survey, involving 164 social work Students, which explores the personal impact of a delayed start to a practice placement and describes one University’s attempt to eliminate these negative consequences for students by implementing new approaches to the organisation and delivery of practice learning.