Queensland Occupational Therapy Fieldwork Collaborative, About the Clinical Educator's Resource Kit

About the Clinical Educator's Resource Kit

This module contains detailed and comprehensive information covering topics such as pre-placement considerations for student clinical education; setting up and sustaining positive student clinical placements; approaches to clinical education; the feedback process and evaluation; and, working with students who are experiencing difficulty. A range of reference documents, worksheets and resource templates are available as links in this module and provide valuable resources to support the clinical education of occupational therapy students.

Part One: Pre-placement Considerations for Student Supervision

This section is for the occupational therapy practitioner who has made an expression of interest regarding the possibility of educating a student on placement and who is a) as yet undecided regarding readiness/ability to take on a student and/or b) new to the clinical educator role and seeking support.

It contains preliminary reading material including templates, fact sheets, and worksheets to provide food for thought in:

exploring the benefits of having a student on placement at your facility
considering your readiness to offer a student clinical placement
identifying what it is you need to do in order to set-up and effectively implement a positive student clinical experience.

The material in this section is complimentary to Part Two: Setting up and sustaining a positive student clinical placement.

Part Two: Setting up and sustaining a positive student clinical placement

This section is for the occupational therapy practitioner who has indicated willingness to provide a student placement.

It contains a step-by-step guide to setting up a successful student placement. Includes information, ideas, templates and worksheets designed to provide you with ideas, tools and guidance for setting up a student placement and getting started.

Section One : Setting up for a student placement

informing the clinical educator of training and resources available
preparing a positive human and physical clinical learning environment
developing meaningful orientation resources and materials

Section Two: Getting Started

formulating a comprehensive student orientation and clinical timetable
clarifying your expectations to the student
planning and providing meaningful student learning opportunities.

Part Three: Approaches to Clinical Education

This section includes information, discussions, tools and suggestions to:

provide introduction to Adult Learning Theory and the principles of adult learning and increase clinical educator awareness of related references and resource.
equip the clinical educator with ideas and strategies for facilitating student learning by applying adult learning principles
draw attention to the differing learning styles of students and to encourage consideration to the unique learning styles of students and consequently to clinical educator teaching styles
provide guidance regarding the content of clinical supervision sessions and useful tools to enhance reflective practice and self-directed learning.

Part Four: The Feedback Process and Evaluation

This section includes information, discussions, tools and suggestions to:

increase clinical educator awareness of, and attention to, the characteristics of constructive feedback when supervising students
equip the clinical educator with practical strategies and tools for encouraging reflective practice and self-evaluation
provide overview of the evaluation process and direct the clinical educator to relevant resources and supports.
encourage the practice of evidence-based evaluation.

Part Five: Working With Students Who Are Experiencing Difficulty

This section provides suggestions, resources, tools and case examples for the clinical educator regarding the process of managing concerns about students' performance, behaviour or ability to successfully complete the placement, if they arise.

Detailed Contents List

For a more detailed list of contents of this module, see the Sitemap.

Note of thanks

Thank you to The University of Queensland, James Cook University, Princess Alexandra Hospital, QE11 Hospital and West Moreton Districts within Queensland Health who have happily contributed examples of tools and documents and made them available for use. These facilities request that you acknowledge the source when using these valuable resources.