Identifying, Organizing, and Prioritizing Ideas on How to Support the Entangled Relation between Theory and Practice in Occupational Therapy Education: A Group Concept Mapping Study: A Group Concept Mapping Study

Transfer of learning from an academic setting to clinical practice and vice versa represents a challenge. The aim of this study was therefore to identify, organize, and prioritize ideas on how to support the entangled relation between theory and practice in occupational therapy (OT) education. To gain broad perspectives on the topic, Group Concept Mapping (GCM) was applied among OT students, lecturers, and fieldwork educators. GCM included six phases: Preparing (formulating a focus prompt), Generating ideas (brainstorming based on focus prompt: “To support the relation between theoretical and practical elements in the OT program there is a need for...”), Structuring statements (sorting and rating importance), Analyses (multidimensional scaling analysis and cluster analysis), Interpreting the map (validation meeting), and Utilization (developing a conceptual model). A total of 39 participants generated 123 unique ideas. Next, 30 participants sorted and rated the ideas, resulting in a cluster rating map. At a validation meeting the cluster rating map was discussed and adjusted. The results revealed seven clusters (i.e. themes) with included statements: 1. Collaborative knowledge exchange (n=17), 2. Experience-oriented teaching (n=17), 3. Theory-practice integration in learning (n=20), 4. Integrating clinical practice in education (n=25), 5. Collaboration on the joint task (n=12), 6. Professional development for fieldwork educators (n=17), and 7. Conditions at the fieldwork placement (n= 15). The themes provided the basis for developing a conceptual model on how to support the entangled relation between theory and practice in OT education. The model is useful during the process of planning and developing OT education.