Professional power through education: universal course design initiatives in occupational therapy curriculum

ABSTRACT The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) has put forth a Centennial Vision that requires academic settings to explore and evaluate modes of instruction for future occupational therapy practitioners. The authors of the Centennial Vision call for occupational therapy to be recognized as a powerful profession that contributes to the health and wellness of society. They further state that education is a key factor to achieving this power aspect of the vision, and this will require innovative instructional methods that produce positive educational outcomes. This study explored the effectiveness of Universal Course Design (UCD) in occupational therapy curriculum. UCD ensures the best learning environment and instructional methods for all learners prior to instruction, as opposed to altering the learning environment or instructional methods for a select few after instruction has begun. The findings indicate that those students participating in UCD methods demonstrated higher educational outcomes in occupational therapy curriculum (t == 3.885, p ==.000). Therefore, this instructional method appears to be a beneficial process to realizing some of the key goals set forth in the AOTA Centennial Vision.