Premium
Students' perspective of fieldwork: Process, purpose and relationship to coursework
Author(s) -
Tompson Margaret,
Ryan Alan G.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
australian occupational therapy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.595
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1440-1630
pISSN - 0045-0766
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1630.1996.tb01845.x
Subject(s) - coursework , perspective (graphical) , curriculum , psychology , pedagogy , process (computing) , occupational therapy , perception , participant observation , medical education , mathematics education , sociology , medicine , computer science , visual arts , social science , art , neuroscience , psychiatry , operating system
This article describes the results of a naturalistic study of four student occupational therapists' early fieldwork experiences. Data from interviews, participant‐observation and students' daily journals were used to identify students' perspectives on the process and purposes of fieldwork. In addition, the relationship of fieldwork to coursework was explored. Students viewed fieldwork as consisting of phases with certain constants that were present in every placement. The main purposes of fieldwork were seen as being related to application of theory to practice, providing learning opportunities, practising skills, the provision of reality, and personal and professional validation. Coursework and fieldwork were viewed as being closely linked but each involved different processes. From this study, it would seem desirable that initial fieldwork experiences occur early and then are interspersed throughout the curriculum. In addition, fieldwork educators could benefit from becoming more aware of students' perceptions of the wide range of purposes of fieldwork experiences.