Date of Award

12-2024

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Educational Leadership, Research and Technology

First Advisor

Louann Bierlein Palmer, Ed.D.

Second Advisor

Jessica Heybach, Ed.D.

Third Advisor

Breanna Chycinski, OTD, OTRL

Keywords

Academic fieldwork coordinator, Formstack, level ii fieldwork, occupational performance, occupational therapy, PEOP model

Abstract

This multiple descriptive case-study explored the perceptions and experiences of eight occupational therapy program academic fieldwork coordinators (AFWCs), regarding their usage of Formstack, as an online fieldwork data collection system. Previous survey research revealed that AFWCs had positive feelings about the new AOTA Fieldwork Performance Evaluation (AOTA, 2020) housed within Formstack (Sanders & Carpenter, 2024), but the AOTA AFWC national list-serve suggests frustration with the online platform itself. Past research by Sanders and Carpenter (2024) also recommended further investigation into the usability of Formstack. To this end, this inquiry focused on two research questions: (a) How do AFWCs at multiple academic institutions, describe their occupational performance using Formstack?, and (b) How do the AFWC, as well as the program director (PD), use data obtained from Formstack to make informed decisions for program development and accreditation compliance?.

To ensure trustworthiness of the study, the researcher triangulated data through three phases: (a) virtual interviews with each AFWC, (b) an in-person site visit, to formally observe Formstack feature use in real-time, and (c) a virtual interview with the AFWC and PD as a means of member checking. Discussions provided insight on the how the AFWC feels about the impact of the platform on occupational performance for their faculty role. Constant comparative analysis was used both within each case and across cases through the lens of the Person, Environment, Occupation, Performance (PEOP) Model, to provide a rich description of both the unique and shared Formstack experiences.

Data revealed three major themes, and nine sub-themes across these eight cases. Specific results indicated AFWCs in this study use the forms and data from the documents stored within Formstack in a variety of methods for accreditation compliance and departmental reports. Most participants do not feel Formstack significantly helps with job efficiency; yet the online platform makes some fieldwork evaluation data collection tasks easier. Neither years of experience nor cohort size influenced a more positive perception of the Formstack platform. When looking at a slightly more influential factor, AFWCs with administrative assistance, in any amount or type, had a more positive opinion of Formstack than AFWCs with no administrative help. Aspects of Formstack creating more work for all AFWCs in this study, are the inability of the platform to be used by more than one fieldwork educator at a time, the limitation of only auto-generating one supervision verification certificate at the end of a rotation, and the lack of integration of Formstack with other commonly used fieldwork data management systems. The most significant big-picture occupational performance concern reported in various ways by the eight AFWCs in this study, is the stress caused by managing various online portal systems, in addition to Formstack. All AFWCs reported needing more technical training for how to use Formstack beyond a simple storage space of completed forms. Supports for how AFWCs can use Formstack more efficiently are suggested, in hopes of higher satisfaction with occupational performance in this unique faculty role in the future.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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