PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT TOWARDS OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY PROFESSIONALISM IN THE OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY PROGRAMME AT UMEÅ UNIVERSITY

Background: How can we support and assess our students’ personal development towards occupational therapy professionalism? Teachers in the occupational therapy programme at Umeå University have developed learning modules... [ view full abstract ]

Background:
How can we support and assess our students’ personal development towards occupational therapy professionalism? Teachers in the occupational therapy programme at Umeå University have developed learning modules focusing on self-awareness and empathy. These modules, such as counseling, group leadership and clinical training includes elements of self-evaluation. The challenge lies in formulating learning goals and examining generic skills in these modules.
Our presentation aims at sharing our experiences and creating discussion among teachers and programme coordinators.


Educational Philosophy:
Learning within the OT programme is characterized by active knowledge acquisition, problem solving and reflection. In learning groups, the students are expected to reflect on their interaction and role dynamics, and to give constructive feedback to each other.


Pedagogy / educational approaches used:
The last ten years we have used and continuously developed an educational instrument - Personal Development towards Occupational Therapy Professionalism (in Swedish, Personlig Utveckling Mot Arbetsterapeutisk Professionalism, PUMAP). It is applied in different ways throughout the programme; for self-evaluation, peer evaluation, for teachers’ and supervisors’ assessment.


Evaluation:
The instrument has proven to be a valuable tool for students' self-awareness regarding skill development and for giving feedback to peer students. Additionally, it provides excellent support to the examiner and clinical supervisor in assessing professional development.


Application to Education:
Examples in the presentation are obtained from learning goals, assessment of students’ tasks, and the links between them, "constructive alignment".



References

Biggs, J. B. & Tang, C. (2007). Teaching for quality learning at university. Open university Press/Mc Graw-Hill Education.