Instructional Strategies Used to Improve Students’ Comfort and Skill in Addressing the Occupational Therapy Process

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an intentional blending of instructional strategies in an occupational therapy (OT) entry-level master’s course. The OT Adult Practice course uses case-based instructional strategies, clinical skills labs, and standardized patient experiences in a dovetailed approach across three progressively complex clinical scenarios involving adult clients. The course is designed to support students in addressing the entire OT Process. Results of quantitative data analysis indicated that the sequential application of case-based instructional strategies, lab experiences, and standardized patient learning opportunities significantly improved students’ self-perception of their level of comfort and skill in being able to perform the following components of the OT process for adult clients: occupational profile, OT evaluation, developing an OT treatment plan, implementing OT treatment, and planning for discharge.