Occupational Therapy Professional Practice 1 (11915.1)

Required texts

Students are expected to access and read professional documents related to occupational therapy practice including:

Occupational Therapy Board of Australia. (2018). Australian occupational therapy competency standards. https://www.occupationaltherapyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines/Competencies.aspx

Occupational Therapy Board of Australia. (2019). Registration standard: Continuing professional development. https://www.occupationaltherapyboard.gov.au/Registration-Standards/Continuing-professional-development.aspx

Recommended Texts

Different practice education placements may have specific recommended texts. The texts listed below contain information that deals with a wide range of practice areas. Students are recommended to read the specific chapters of these books that deal with the practice area in which they will be working.

Brown, T., Bourke-Taylor, H., Isbel, S., Cordier, R., & Gustafsson, L. (Eds.) (2021). Occupational therapy in Australia :professional and practice issues (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Curtin, M., Adams, J., & Egan, M. (2017). Occupational therapy for people experiencing illness, injury or impairment. (7th ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences.

Dancza, K. & Rodger, S. (2018) Implementing occupation-centred practice: A practical guide for occupational therapy practice learning. Routledge.

Egan, M., & Restall, G. (Eds.). (2022). Promoting occupational participation: Collaborative relationship-focused occupational therapy. Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists.

Thew, M., Edwards, M., Baptiste, S., & Molineux, M. (Eds.).(2011). Role emerging occupational therapy: Maximising occupation-focused practice. Wiley-Blackwell.

Submission of assessment items

Special assessment requirements

Students must complete and submit all assessments.  All assessment items will be viewed as a collective to determine when students have demonstrated the competencies required to complete the unit.

Moderation Process

In the case of practice education /clinical placements, fieldwork, or other forms of practicums, moderation processes will be outlined on Canvas.

Students must apply academic integrity in their learning and research activities at UC. This includes submitting authentic and original work for assessments and properly acknowledging any sources used.

Academic integrity involves the ethical, honest and responsible use, creation and sharing of information. It is critical to the quality of higher education. Our academic integrity values are honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage.

UC students have to complete the Academic Integrity Module annually to learn about academic integrity and to understand the consequences of academic integrity breaches (or academic misconduct).

UC uses various strategies and systems, including detection software, to identify potential breaches of academic integrity. Suspected breaches may be investigated, and action can be taken when misconduct is found to have occurred.

Information is provided in the Academic Integrity Policy, Academic Integrity Procedure, and University of Canberra (Student Conduct) Rules 2023. For further advice, visit Study Skills.

Learner engagement

This is an industry based placement. The placement is 8 weeks, full time work hours. The number of hours students spend per day at their placement will be determined by the workplace. Students should record approximately 340 hours for this unit.

It is the student's responsibility to record and maintain evidence (timesheets) that they have completed the required hours for placement.

Some placements may include shift hours and weekend work. Students must view placement information on the Canvas site and communicate with the allocated placement contact for specific hours for specific work sites.

Inclusion and engagement

Any adjustment to the requirements of the practice education placement set out in this unit outline requires approval from the inclusion and engagement office (InclusionUC) and the unit convenor prior to placement allocation.

Reasonable Adjustment Plans and Extenuating Circumstances applications must be approved 10 weeks prior to the start of the placement.  A placement might not be secured when Reasonable Adjustment Plans or Extenuating Circumstances applications are received after this date.

Participation requirements

Except in the case of extenuating circumstances, 100% attendance is expected in all placements. It is expected that students unable to fulfill these participation requirements will inform the Unit Convener as soon as practical in writing (email). Absence from external placement activities must also be reported to the practice educator and Unit Convener as soon as possible. Failure to adhere to these requirements may result in failure of the associated assessment piece. Consideration will be given for illness; however, evidence such as a medical certificate will be required.

Required IT skills

The use of Canvas, Mahara, InPlace, web-based communication systems (such as Teams, Zoom) and library searching skills and word processing skills are necessary for this unit.

Some placements sites may be using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to assist with their therapy practices. Students are to orient to the speicific sites policies and processes regarding the use of AI. Any use of AI presented in any assessment items for this unit needs to demonstrate an ethical and professional use of AI in accordance with the occupational therapy professional standards, and be formally acknowledged and referenced.

This unit may involve online meetings in real time using the Virtual Room in your UCLearn teaching site. The Virtual Room allows you to communicate in real time with your lecturer and other students. To participate verbally, rather than just typing, you will need a microphone. For best audio quality we recommend a microphone and speaker headset. For more information and to test your computer, go to the Virtual Room in your UCLearn site and 'Join Course Room'. This will trigger a tutorial to help familiarise you with the functionality of the virtual room.

In-unit costs

Students are required to cover the costs of travelling to and from the placement and associated accommodation costs incurred during the placement. It is expected that over the duration of their course, all students will complete at least one placement in rural, regional, or remote Australia.

Some placement sites may have specific requirements that will incur extra costs.

Work placement, internships or practicums

This unit involves work integrated learning: Placement/Simulation. Students must adhere to University policy during WIL activities, including the Student Conduct Rules 2018, the WIL Policy and WIL Procedure, and the Assessment Policy and Assessment Procedure

This unit has pre-placement requirements (e.g. Working with Vulnerable People registration, immunisation/s). You must complete Pre-Place: Preparation for Work Integrated Learning prior to commencement of your Placement/Simulation. You can self-enrol in this module through the UC Learn site here.

You are also required to complete details in InPlace, refer to inplace.canberra.edu.au. If you have any queries related to InPlace please contact placement@canberra.edu.au.

Contact your unit convener if you have any concerns with meeting the requirements of this unit.

• Practice 6, 2025, Placement, UC - Canberra, Bruce (227967)
• Practice 6, 2024, Internship, UC - Canberra, Bruce (215838)