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A TECHNOLOGY CURRICULUM STRAND

Aimee J. Luebben Occupational Therapy Program University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, IN

Abstract

While many occupational therapy (OT) schools have retrofitted their coursework with additional classes in technology, other programs in OT have redesigned their curricula around a core of technology related content. This paper describes an entry level OT program in which technology was designed as an integral part of the preservice curriculum. In this professional curriculum, students spend 535 of 945 (56%) classroom contact hours in technology related content and have an additional 190 hours of outside assignments related to technology. In addition, this paper examines the extent to which the OT program addresses Technology Competencies for Occupational Therapy Practice (Tech Competencies) (1), a recent document that lists 28 technology competencies for entry level occupational therapists.

Background

Although a survey reported that 69% of responding occupational therapists had recommended technology during their previous two years of practice (2), many entry level OT schools, however, have been slow to implement instructional content in assistive technology (AT). A survey of entry level OT curricula found that half of the responding schools provide less than 20 hours of technology training, while 25% of entry level curricula provide between 20 and 50 hours, and 25% of the schools have more than 50 hours devoted to technology training (3).

Entry level OT curricula have addressed the addition of technology in various ways. The University of Wisconsin- Madison created two interdisciplinary technology specialization programs: TechSpec in 1988 (4) and InterACT in 1992 (5), while the University of Washington integrated a technology training core course with technology units in other courses into the undergraduate curriculum (6). In 1992 a new OT program was designed with technology as an integral part of the curriculum (7).

The formulation of competencies in technology has been a recent development in the OT profession. In 1993 the Technology Special Interest Section Standing Committee of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) published technology competencies, training guidelines, and areas of technology content (8). More recently, a task force appointed by the AOTA Commission on Practice disseminated the sixth draft of Tech Competencies. This document lists competencies in three areas (evaluation, intervention, and resource coordination) for three levels (entry, intermediate, and advanced) of both occupational therapists and certified occupational therapy assistants (1). Although the occupational therapist practicing at the advanced AT level is expected to achieve a total of 45 technology competencies, according to this document, the entry level occupational therapist should achieve 28 technology competencies and be able to assist OT practitioners at higher levels of AT competency with 12 additional competencies (1).

Objective

According to Tech Competencies (1), all occupational therapists should possess the competencies at the occupational therapist, entry level, upon completion of accredited OT education programs. In adding technology content to address these new competencies, existing OT schools must either find room in courses already overflowing with information or decide whether to add a technology class as a required or elective course. In a newly accredited OT program, designed with technology as an integral part of the curriculum, the objective is: To what extent does the existing program address the 28 new technology competencies.

Method

A curriculum audit was performed a) to investigate the objective, to what extent does the existing 65 credit OT program address the 28 new technology competencies, and b) to determine the number of technology related hours in the classroom.

Results

Table 1 shows the 28 competencies for the occupational therapy, entry level (1) and the systematic integration of the technology curriculum strand. In this OT curriculum, each entry level technology covered in an average of nine classes. For each of the 17 courses (57 credit hours) which comprise the didactic portion of curriculum, Table 2 shows total contact hours, technology content hours in the classroom, as well as time spent completing outside assignments related to technology. Students spend 535 of 945 (56%) classroom contact hours and have an extra 190 hours of outside assignments related to technology. In addition, students are expected to integrate technology related information into their 1060 hours (four credits) of clinical experiences.

The high percentage of AT coverage in the OT coursework can be explained by two factors in the design of this curriculum. First, when the program was originally developed, the curriculum designer utilized a systems approach to integrate technology across courses rather than adding a class or devising a core. Technology became one of eight curriculum strands (wellness, ethics, professional communication, research, cultural diversity, technology, collaboration with certified occupational therapy assistants, and professional conduct) threaded throughout the tapestry of the OT professional coursework.

The second design factor that explains the high percentage of AT coverage in this curriculum is the curriculum core, comprised of five courses (22 credit hours). The core of the professional coursework is based on Uniform Terminology for Occupational Therapy-Third Edition (UT III) (9), one of the documents that provided the basis for Tech Competencies (1). UT III (9) divides human function into three occupational performance (OP) features: components, areas, and contexts. OP areas (OPA) include activities of daily living (ADL), work and productive activities, and play/leisure activities; OP components (OPC) consist of sensorimotor, cognitive, and psychosocial skills; and OP contexts are comprised of temporal and environmental aspects. Two of five core courses are named for the OPAs and three for the OPCs. Since the performance of persons needing OT services varies with age and environment, lifespan and OP contexts are dimensions across the five core courses.

In addition to providing content in AT, the OT program requires students to demonstrate basic computer literacy in software applications including wordprocessing, database, and spreadsheet. In 1995 another technology related requirement was added. After discussion with the university financial aid office to determine that students can increase their loan requests for equipment that is "required" (the financial aid key word), this OT program now requires all accepted OT students to own computers. Students receive many assignments by disk or e-mail and they usually submit written assignments on disks in addition to the traditional hard copy format.

Discussion

With the thread of technology interwoven throughout the preservice educational program, this newly accredited entry level OT program should be one of the first curricula in the country to fulfill the Tech Competencies. Students graduating from this program will have the means to operate at the occupational therapist, entry level, in the AT service provision arena and the methods to seek additional information to move to the occupational therapist, intermediate level. In a survey (3), technology content in OT schools ranged from 0 to 73 hours in lecture format and 0 to 113 hours in lab/practicum format. With 535 classroom contact hours and 190 hours of outside assignments (a total of 725 hours of technology related information), this OT program exceeds maximum number of technology training hours indicated by the reporting OT curricula. This study shows that with the comprehensive inclusion of a technology curriculum strand, an OT program can easily modify AT content to address current and future technology competencies of the profession.

References

1. AOTA. Technology competencies for occupational therapy practice (Draft VI). Bethesda, MD: Author, 1995.

2. Somerville NJ, Wilson DJ, Shanfield, KJ, Mack W. Assistive technology training needs survey. Assist. Tech. 2:41- 49, 1990

3. Kanny EA, Anson DK, Smith RO. A survey of technology education in entry-level curricula: Quantity, quality, and barriers. Occup. Ther. J. of Res. 11:311-319, 1991.

4. Smith R. Technology specialization for occupational therapists: TechSpec education model. In: Technology Review '90: Perspectives on OT practice. Rockville, MD: AOTA, 13-17, 1990.

5. Smith RO. InterACT: Interdisciplinary augmentative communication and technology training program. Tech SIS Newsletter 3(3):5-6, 1993.

6. Anson D. Training occupational therapists in assistive technology: University of Washington program. Tech SIS Newsletter 3(3):3-4, 1993.

7. Luebben, A.J. Integration of technology into a new occupational therapy curriculum. In M. Binion (Ed.), Tuning in to the 21st century through assistive technology. Arlington, VA: RESNA Press, 31-33, 1994.

8. Hammel JM, Smith RO. The development of technology competencies and training guidelines for occupational therapists. Am. J. Occup. Ther. 47(11): 970-979, 1993.

9. AOTA. Uniform Terminology for Occupational Therapy-Third Edition. Rockville, MD: Author, 1994.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by Coleman Tri-County Services, Harrisburg, Illinois.

Aimee Luebben, Director and Assistant Professor Occupational Therapy Program University of Southern Indiana 8600 University Blvd, Evansville, IN 47712 812-465-1179, 812-465-7092 (FAX) aluebben.ucs@smtp.usi.edu