Conceptual Models of the Field of Occupational Therapy

As the culminating project for OT 425 Foundations of Occupation-Centered Practice, the first-year OT students in the course were charged with creating a conceptual model of the field of OT.  In completing this project, learners were encouraged to integrate personal experiences and perceptions and the information and ideas introduced in this course to represent his or her own understanding of the field of occupational therapy.

The following questions were presented along with the instructions for the assignment as a starting point:

•  What is occupational therapy?
• What do occupational therapists do?
• How do occupational therapy practitioners tend to think and act in a professional context?

Students were informed that there was a good deal of freedom in determining what to include and how you want to express their messages, as long as the presentation style was attractive, concise, and meaningful to them as individuals at the beginning of a career path in the field of occupational therapy.

I am impressed and proud of the effort students put into their projects, each of which can be viewed below by clicking on the links provided:

What is OT? Conceptual Models

	Conceptual Model
1	https://magic.piktochart.com/output/22254404-conceptual-model-of-occupational-therapy
2	https://prezi.com/7j5rrauppsof/on-the-road-to-understanding-ot/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
3	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Nl8rlMWOVA&feature=youtu.be
4	https://www.powtoon.com/c/ekjBMsH2AYj/1/p
5	https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B43alx0yzldiSm04SmIxVUlWUlk/view?usp=sharing
6	https://magic.piktochart.com/output/22439922-conceptual-diagram
7	https://www.powtoon.com/online-presentation/dLxdfm3wKPm/?mode=movie
8	https://www.powtoon.com/online-presentation/e6BoJk8Lrk1/what-is-occupational-therapy/?utm_source=transactional&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Transactional-Publish-success&mode=movie#/
9	https://magic.piktochart.com/output/22309756-occupational-therapy
10	https://magic.piktochart.com/output/22426254-conceptual-diagram-haleigh-hoke
11	https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tdoRW1uPpK4DpP6uor47P8T19FZqZgfK3c72G-dtgtw/edit?usp=sharing
12	https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B43alx0yzldiLWFRRnBuaTdxRnc/view?usp=sharing
13	https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B43alx0yzldiUjhVMlZVM2tPXzg/view?usp=sharing
14	https://magic.piktochart.com/output/22418559-ot-conceptual-design-katherine-manning
15	http://youtu.be/hU3wkPMVqnQ?hd=1
16	https://magic.piktochart.com/output/22390150-new-piktochart
17	http://prezi.com/jz3rx8gipbb2/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share
18	https://prezi.com/view/ZbNxRSGZdidzsvyrpOnQ/
19	http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TsqVOclqsA&rel=0
20	https://www.powtoon.com/online-presentation/frueJzrwhIX/?mode=presentation#/
21	https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B43alx0yzldiUGpsNTZQVDlLVjQ/view?usp=sharing
22	https://magic.piktochart.com/output/22254592-conceptual-diagram-ot-425
23	https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B43alx0yzldicnNhVW5FRzRzTkU/view?usp=sharing
24	https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sfvKDAn8xl63YoSIOr9cmoZ4DRws0YPfy1A9Pkq6YZI/edit?usp=sharing
25	https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B43alx0yzldiZllaNTRfTHQ4dXM/view?usp=sharing
26	https://www.powtoon.com/c/fJFTddUnfoc/1/m
27	https://magic.piktochart.com/output/22417479-conceptual-diagram-ot
28	https://magic.piktochart.com/output/22436919-scarbrough-ot-concept-diagram
29	https://magic.piktochart.com/output/22391371-rachel-spain-ot-conceptual-diagram
30	https://magic.piktochart.com/output/22422759-occupational-therapy
31	https://magic.piktochart.com/output/22312605-ot-conceptual-design
32	https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B43alx0yzldiREVENFFhSy1oNDQ/view?usp=sharing
33	https://youtu.be/SBrykJJYkKY
34	https://magic.piktochart.com/output/22400018-emily-white_ot-425_conceptual-diagram
35	https://www.powtoon.com/c/ftGPsUku912/1/m
36	https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B43alx0yzldib2RVZkN0cnVuaEU/view?usp=sharing

37	https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/12eA5Tukin1rriRCTeYs7urodJtxxR95A8On-EGU24Ss/edit?usp=sharing

Course Wrap-Up

I used to be good at wrapping gifts.  These days, though, with the hectic schedule I almost always keep, the end products of my wrapping efforts most often look more like this.

After a few years of teaching, I set a goal to try to stop picturing an hourglass when I think about the end of a course I've been teaching.  I had a habit of thinking more about what hadn't gone exactly "right" in a course as it came to a close rather than seeing it in a positive light or even as a work in progress. With that mindset, every time I thought about the final class session, the picture that flashed through my head was the last few grains of sand going from the top to the bottom of the hourglass. Now, instead, I am looking at the process of ending a course like the wrapping in this photo - a work of art that is perfectly imperfect.

As things wind down in OT 425 Foundations of Occupation-Centered Practice this term, I hope that students feel that their learning in relation to the course content has ended (or paused ... ) on a high note.  I hope each person in the class is proud of his or her accomplishments in this course and is better able to embrace the gray in different contexts.  I hope that every single learner feels that what he or she is taking away from this class matters "in real life." My goal in designing this course has been to create an environment that facilitates engagement and exploration through learning about the learning process, becoming more self-aware, and beginning to learn about occupational therapy.

My main take away from this course (especially in light of the debriefing that occurred in the final class session) is that students appreciate organization within the design of a course, a degree of choice, and information about what to expect in a course/assignment/exam and that, as in all situations, two-way communication is so helpful in the learning and growing process.

With many thanks to the other learners (aka the students) in OT 425 in the spring term of 2017!!