Occupation

Abstracts Wednesday 29 June 2016
purpose’ from a UK perspective? Introducing the multiple mini
interview Nurse Education Today 32(2012), 835–837.
College of Occupational Therapists (2014) Report of the Annual
Monitoring of Accredited pre-registration programmes academic
year 2010/11. London: COT.
Keywords
Students, Research, Education and learning, Education
Contact E-mail Addresses
c.hay@coventry.ac.uk
Author Biographies
Carolyn Hay has been a Senior Lecturer in Occupational Therapy
at Coventry University since 2007 and Admissions Tutor for the
BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy programme since 2008.
Session 35.3
What does placement feel like? Emotions and
occupational therapy practice
Healey J, Sheffield Hallam University
Emotion management and emotional labour have been
extensively debated and theorised in the nursing literature.
Although we practice in similar environments to nurses, little
has been written from an occupational therapy perspective
about the emotional dimensions of our work. Some recent
contributions in our professional literature have directly discussed
the issue but mostly from a perspective of emotional intelligence
(Chaffey, Unsworth and Fossey, 2012 McKenna and Melson
2013 Andonian, 2013).
This doctoral research explored the emotional aspects of
placement learning with a group of third year occupational
therapy students from two programmes delivered at a UK
university. The research was based upon a wide ranging
literature review of emotional labour in health and social care
and a post-structuralist critique of the concept of emotion. A
creative arts based qualitative methodology was employed. The
researcher facilitated a set of four creative writing workshops
with the student participants who produced stories and poems
about their placement experiences. The group discussions and
the follow-up individual conversations based on the writing
produced, were recorded, transcribed and analysed with
post-structuralist and narrative theory. The innovative method
produced writing that evokes the placement experiences.
The stories and poems capture how the students feel when
they have to manage their emotions in difficult, moving and
sometimes frightening situations in practice. Analysis of the
students’ writing about emotion management reveals its role in
their engagement with the discourses of professionalism in the
health and social care environment.
The research is of particular relevance given the current focus in
the NHS on compassionate care. It also raises questions for our
profession about the hidden emotional aspects of our practice
and proposes an alternative view of emotion management to
that which is implied within the emotional intelligence approach.
References
Andonian L (2013) Emotional intelligence, self-efficacy and
occupational therapy students’ fieldwork performance.
Occupational therapy in health care. 27 (3) 201–215
Chaffey L, Unsworth C, Fossey E (2012) The relationship
between intuition and emotional intelligence in occupational
therapists in mental health practice. American Journal of
occupational therapy. 66 (1) 88–96
McKenna J, Mellson J (2013) Emotional intelligence and the
occupational therapist. British Journal of Occupational Therapy
76 (9) 427–430
Keywords
Students, Research, Education and learning, Education
Contact E-mail Addresses
j.n.healey@shu.ac.uk
Author Biographies
Joan Healey is a Senior Lecturer in Occupational Therapy at
Sheffield Hallam University. She has used creative writing in a
variety of fields including research, education, community groups
and in care homes. She has extensive experience of supporting
occupational therapy students in placement learning.
Session 35.4
Team based learning – an innovative strategy for
occupational therapy education
Khatri R, Siddons L, University of Northampton
Introduction and Background: Previously the undergraduate
programme at the University of Northampton trialled Team
based Learning (TBL) for delivery of level 4 modules within its
programme. Following a successful pilot, TBL was introduced
to the level 5 curriculum. TBL uses a structured combination of
pre-class preparation, individual and group readiness assurance
tests, and application practises in teaching (Mennenga, 2012).
Research related to TBL indicates that students engage in
active and social learning with a more confident ability to apply
knowledge in practice (Parmelee, 2008).
Methods: A mixed methodology approach was used to analyse
the student and staff experience of implementation of the
new teaching and learning strategy. Module evaluations, focus
groups, interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data.
Descriptive and content analysis was used to analyse the data.
Results and conclusion: The results are consistent with current
literature, which highlights that team scores are consistently
higher than the individual scores. It is not uncommon that even
the weakest teams out-perform the best-performing individuals
(Dana, 2007).
In the pilot study, when compared to the previous student
cohort, current students scored higher and both elements of
assessment in the module.
Impact: Initial observation from the tutors showed that TBL has
been recognised by the module team as a way to move students
from knowledge acquisition to the ability to analyse, evaluate
and apply knowledge to practice based scenarios. One of the
objectives in OT higher education is to promote the development
of autonomous learners and practitioners. TBL supports this
premise and the evidence to date is that students are more able
to direct their own learning and skill acquisition, both of which
are essential in a practice environment.
Implications for Occupational therapy: Results indicate that
students are becoming autonomous learners earlier on in their
Occupational Therapy education.
References
Dana, S. (2007). Implementing team-based learning in an
introduction to law course. Journal of Legal Studies Education.
24(1), 59–108.
Mennenga, H.A. (2012). Development and psychometric testing
of the team-based learning student assessment instrument.
Nurse Education. 37(4), 168–172.
29