Reliability reconsidered: Cronbach's alpha and paediatric assessment in occupational therapy

Background / aim: Using reliable outcome measures is a necessity for the occupational therapy profession in enabling valid assessments of clients. Although Cronbach’s alpha is the most widely applied index of internal consistency reliability, there are misconceptions about its use and interpretation. This paper aims to guide assessment developers in paediatric occupational therapy, as well as practitioners who are evaluating outcome measures in using and interpreting the Cronbach’s alpha estimates appropriately. This will enable them to decide on the tools’ clinical value and incorporate them into their practice with children. Method: Previously published papers reporting on internal consistency issues of outcome measures in paediatric occupational therapy were searched through the Allied and Complementary Medicine database. These papers were used as a basis to discuss possible reasons for reporting of low internal consistency. Results: The analysis demonstrates that Cronbach’s alpha reports are not always interpreted in a sound way. The paper emphasises that one should be cautious about judging estimates of internal consistency. Low size of the coefficient alpha might not always indicate problems with the construction of the tool; whereas large sizes do not always suggest adequate reliability. Instead, these reports might be related to the data characteristics of the construct. Conclusion: In judging an outcome measure’s internal consistency , researchers and practitioners in occupational therapy should report and consider the nature of data, the scale’s length and width, the linearity and the normality of response distribution, the central response tendency, the sample response variability and the sample size

Management of Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Learning Disabilities: A Survey of Paediatric Occupational Therapists in the United Kingdom

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common complex neuropsychiatric disorder frequently overlapping with learning disabilities (LD) in children with average and above intelligence (Biederman et al 1991). The complex needs of these children could be better addressed in a multidisciplinary context (Foy & Earls 2005) within which paediatric occupational therapists may have a significant role. The aim of this study was to identify the interventions used by occupational therapists in the United Kingdom with these children and explore the rationale for their use. The purpose was to provide baseline data to inform multidisciplinary team approaches for the management of these children. A survey, based on postal questionnaires, was conducted among 100 paediatric occupational therapists in the United Kingdom. The effective rate of response was 42%. Both qualitative and quantitative data were gathered and analysed. The findings suggested that therapists tended to use more than one method/ approach in the rehabilitation of these children. The sensory integration approach and the perceptual-motor training were more popular among therapists. A variety of other approaches, used on an individual needs basis, were reportedly used. Future studies to test the effectiveness of reported practices with children with both ADHD and LD are recommended

Management of children with ADHD and LD: A survey of paediatric occupational therapists in the UK

Copyright @ 2009 The University of HuddersfieldAttention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common complex neuropsychiatric disorder frequently overlapping with learning disabilities (LD) in children with average and above intelligence (Biederman et al 1991). The complex needs of these children could be better addressed in a multidisciplinary context (Foy & Earls 2005) within which paediatric occupational therapists may have a significant role. The aim of this study was to identify the interventions used by occupational therapists in the United Kingdom with these children and explore the rationale for their use. The purpose was to provide baseline data to inform multidisciplinary team approaches for the management of these children. A survey, based on postal questionnaires, was conducted among 100 paediatric occupational therapists in the United Kingdom. The effective rate of response was 42%. Both qualitative and quantitative data were gathered and analysed. The findings suggested that therapists tended to use more than one method/ approach in the rehabilitation of these children. The sensory integration approach and the perceptual-motor training were more popular among therapists. A variety of other approaches, used on an individual needs basis, were reportedly used. Future studies to test the effectiveness of reported practices with children with both ADHD and LD are recommended

Preparing occupational therapy students for practice placements: Initial evidence

Practice placements are a crucial part of occupational therapy education, yet they can be a stressful experience for students, practice placement educators and the university. This may contribute to a shortage of placements. The effectiveness of a 4-week preparation with second-level full-time students at Brunel University, prior to a practice placement was evaluated by a two-part analysis. First, the students’ perspective on the effectiveness of the preparation is presented. This is followed by a comparison of placement grades between the current cohort of students (academic year 2006-2007), who attended the preparation and the previous cohort of students (academic year 2005-2006), who did not have this opportunity

Sustainable community development through the conceptual lens of productivity

Achieving global sustainability requires addressing urban systems since more than two-thirds of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2050. Fundamental changes are needed in local decision-making, urban sustainability planning, implementation, and assessment, and citizen mobilization to move from current piecemeal approaches toward long-lasting and successful implementation of local and global sustainability goals. This research explores the potential of holistic community/urban productivity: “How can the concept, principles, and practices of community productivity help address local sustainability planning, implementation, and assessment, and contribute to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals?” In response, I engaged in critical review of the literature on sustainable community development, urban sustainability, and holistic productivity, developed a conceptual framework for holistic urban productivity, and conducted in-depth case studies with two Canadian cities. While cities are often considered as a component of Anthropocene problems, they also offer unique opportunities and solutions: they have enormous potential not only in terms of economic and labor productivity (diverse and inclusive economy, fostering innovation), but also of social productivity (hubs of research, learning, and sharing) and ecological productivity (ecological function regeneration and efficient use of resources). Holistic urban productivity posits that transforming cities into well-functioning and sustainable systems is possible through inclusive co-production of the commons, resource circularity and regeneration, natural systems restoration, and systemic decision-making. This dissertation contributes to sustainable community development conceptually and empirically by substantiating existing literature and by proposing a new framework with principles, goals, and metrics grounded in long-term whole-systems thinking and regeneration of urban assets and resources. The research findings helped enhance the holistic Urban Productivity Framework and the development of recommendations for municipalities in Canada and beyond and for further research. Cities need to welcome visioning, networking, learning, and connectedness tools for balanced and synergistic optimization of all community elements

Final report on documentation of Students’ understanding

The aim of the present study is to document undergraduate students’ understanding of aspects and properties of the notion of periodicity when confronted with various tasks mostly taken from their secondary school textbooks. In order to accomplish the above goals we designed and contacted three separate research activities (case studies). This was considered necessary in order to study different aspects of periodicity within a broad range of participants, as well as to integrate this kind of research activities in researcher’s teaching experiences as in the case of Act 1

Epistemological and didactical aspects related to the concept of periodicity across different school subjects

Our aim in this study is to identify epistemological and didactical aspects related to the concept of periodicity. Periodicity is an essential scientific concept for the following reasons: it plays a central role in the school curriculum in various school subjects and it is fundamental in many undergraduate courses in mathematics, science and engineering. We can meet this notion throughout the secondary school curriculum and in undergraduate studies in relevant fields

Final report on textbooks analysis

The work presented in this report is part of a research project that aims to identify epistemological and didactical aspects among different educational practices concerning the concept of “periodicity”. Periodicity is an essential scientific concept because it plays a central role in the school curriculum and is expressed in different educational fields where it acquires practical importance

Final report on documentation of teachers’ thinking

The present study is part of a research project that intends to take a close look at pedagogical practices adopted in mathematics and physics classrooms in Greek secondary schools on topics that are related to periodicity. Even though periodicity is central in a variety of disciplines, an extensive search of the literature shows that there are only a limited number of studies that focus on its understanding. To meet the aims of our inquiry, in the first phase of our project we analyzed Greek textbooks taken from the subjects of physics, mathematics, astronomy and applied technologies