Document Type (Journals)
Original Research
Abstract
Entry-level occupational therapy doctorate (OTD) programs across the United States navigate the challenge of designing doctoral capstone (DC) processes to provide students with adequate scaffolding to plan, implement, evaluate, and disseminate their capstone projects. The DC process starts with the daunting tasks of student generation of capstone interests and connecting with mentors for collaborative guidance. The purpose of this program evaluation project was to assess a comprehensive process, known as the Capstone Fair, for effectively and efficiently facilitating students’ initial generation of capstone ideas and the match between student and Faculty Capstone Mentor. A fixed convergent, parallel mixed methods design was used to evaluate the Capstone Fair’s ability to meet pre-established criteria among two student cohorts, four years apart. Outcomes indicated 100% (n=101) alignment of the student’s identified capstone topics with the program’s curriculum design; interests that demonstrated cognitive flexibility and feasibility in 96% (n=97) of students; a statistically significant increase in student confidence with the identification of interests (pn=33) of projects; and a time commitment for student/faculty mentor matching of 2.5 hours with 4% post-match adjustments. The results suggest that the Capstone Fair procedures were effective for student generation of capstone interests that were curricularly aligned and demonstrate flexibility and feasibility for responding to the evolving dynamics of the DC process over time.
Biography
Laurie Stelter, PhD, OTR is an Assistant Professor in the Occupational Therapy Program at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center since 2014. She serves as the program’s Doctoral Capstone Coordinator, facilitating 50 community-engaged student doctoral capstone projects annually. Laurie has publications and presentations at the state and national level.
Sandra Whisner, PhD, OTR is an Associate Tenured Professor and Program Director of the entry-level Doctor of Occupational Therapy program at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Her area of scholarship focuses on educational research with an emphasis on examination of student outcomes.
Cindi Tiongco, PhD, OTR is an Assistant Professor and Assistant Program Director in the entry-level Doctor of Occupational Therapy program at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Her teaching and scholarship are focused on application of best practices for occupational participation for individuals across the lifespan with and without disabilities.
Laura Alexander, OTD, OTR is an Assistant Professor in the Occupational Therapy Program at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Her teaching is focused on foundational biomechanical aspects of client care and hand therapy while scholarship interests focus on improvement of functional outcomes after upper extremity surgical interventions.
Declaration of Interest
The authors report no declarations of interest.
Recommended Citation
Stelter, L. D., Whisner, S. M., Tiongco, C., & Alexander, L. (2024). The Capstone Fair for Promoting Initial Generation of Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone Ideas. Journal of Occupational Therapy Education, 8 (4). https://doi.org/10.26681/jote.2024.080409
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