Office: Occupational Therapy Education Dept., Rm. 3033 Robinson, KUMC.
Office telephone: (913) 588-7195.
Office hours: by appointment.
Click HERE to send Jeff e-mail. The unfortunate reality is that faculty members have responsibilities other than just those related to students. Please understand that even if I am unavailable when you stop by the office, I am committed to responding to the needs of students. If I am unavailable, take the time to leave a note with a secretary indicating other possible meeting times and a telephone number where you may be reached. I will contact you as soon as an opportunity presents itself.

Concept map:

The Concept Map and Key Questions summarize the course content visually, and provide information about how that content will be approached. A .pdf version of the concept map is available.

Process: Course content will be presented through:

• didactic lectures to convey basic concepts and facts
• presentations by guest speakers to convey personal experiences and perspectives.
• group discussion to gain insight from out-of-class experiences (reading books, conducting interviews) about these basic concepts.
• case presentations to identify appropriate application of these basic concepts in real-life situations.

Key Questions: Throughout this course, students should continue to consider the following questions:

1. What constructs and relations form an individual's contextual environment?
2. How do context variables influence occupational performance and the occupational therapy process?
3. How can different intervention approaches be used to address performance concerns?
4. How does analyzing contextual features of a setting contribute to developing a needs assessment?

Anticipated Outcome & Learning Experience: Formative development of clinical reasoning abilities incorporating:

• the consideration of context variables in intervention planning.
• a spectrum of intervention options.
• an understanding of service provision models as applied in a variety of service systems.

Required Texts/Materials:

1. Albom, Mitch. Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man and the Last Great Lesson, Doubleday (1997).
2. Weisskopf, Michael. Blood brothers : among the soldiers of Ward 57, H.Holt (2006).
3. Willard & Spackman's Occupational Therapy E.B. Crepeau, E.S. Cohn, and B.A. Boyt Schell (eds.) Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins; 10th ed., New York, 2003.

Other books that may be of interest:

1. The out-of-class assessment of physical barriers, to be followed by a class discussion of your findings.

2. Context Analysis of a Historic Figure assignment

3. Tuesdays with Morrie context analysis assignment

4. Blood Brothers Context Analysis assignment

5. Needs Assessment assignment; includes written summaries of context (1 summary for each of 7 variables) and a poster presentation.

Academic Supports and Accomodations: Learning assistance, academic performance enhancement, and psychological services at KUMC are free, confidential, and available at Student Counseling & Educational Support Services by calling 913-588-6580 or visiting G116 Student Center.

Any student in this course who needs an accommodation because of a disability in order to complete the course requirements should contact the instructor or the Equal Opportunity / Disability Specialist (913-588-7813, TDD 913-588-7963) as soon as possible.

Apportionment of points:

Out-of-Class analysis of a physical context	20 points
Discussion of out-of-class physical context	20 points
Contextual analysis of a historic individual	50 points
Tuesdays with Morrie Contextual analysis	100 points
Blood Brothers Contextual analysis	100 points
Physical context assessment	70 points
Temporal context assessment	70 points
Personal context assessment	70 points
Cultural context assessment	70 points
Spiritual context assessment	70 points
Social context assessment	70 points
Virtual context assessment	70 points
Sexuality & Disability assignment	20 points
Needs assessment poster presentation	200 points
TOTAL	1000 points

Note there will not be a final exam in this course! There will be a culminating activity - presenting your group's Needs Assessment project as a poster.

Grading Scale:

A	...	90% or higher
B	...	80-89%
C	...	70-79%
D	...	65-69%

Due Dates: Please submit all assignments electronically (via the course dropbox in ANGEL) and in hard copy. You may bring the paper copy of the assignment to class, or leave it in the instructor's mailbox in the OTEd department.

To receive credit for assignments, completed work must be submitted electgronically before 4pm on the day the assignment is due. If a student experiences extenuating circumstances that prevent completion of an assignment on the due date, that student must contact the instructor at least 24 hours before the deadline so that the instructor can determine if an extension is warranted.

Additional information:

Academic Supports and Accomodations: Learning assistance, academic performance enhancement and psychological services at KUMC are free, confidential, and available at Student Counseling & Educational Support Services (Tel: 913-588-6580) or visiting G116 Student Center.

Professional Writing: Clear professional writing is an essential skill in post-graduate and/or practice settings. Developing skill in professional and technical writing is an important aspect of your learning within this curriculum. To support this learning, instructors will consider elements of language use in the grading of written communications, including appropriate content, style, word choice, syntax and mechanics. If you need assistance with your writing, please contact the KUMC Student Center or visit the KU Writing Center. (web: http://www.writing.ku.edu)

Accomodations: Any student in this course who needs an accommodation because of a disability in order to complete the course requirements should contact the instructor or the Equal Opportunity/Disability Specialist (913.588.7813; TDD 913-588-7963) as soon as possible so that appropriate accommodations may be considered.

I encourage all students to read the School of Allied Health's Student Handbook (link downloads a .pdf file) for policies regarding academic and non-academic misconduct.

Professional Writing: Writing is an essential skill in professional practice. Developing skill in professional and technical writing is an important aspect of your learning within this curriculum. To support this learning, I will consider elements of language use in the grading of written communications, including grammar, word choice, spelling, punctuation, style, and content. If you need help with your writing, please contact the Student Center at ext. 8-6580 or visit the KU Writing Center website. (http://www.writing.ku.edu)

Inclement Weather Policy: The KU Medical Center's standard policy is to remain open for business as a medical institution and as an academic institution in spite of weather conditions (even though KU-Lawrence may not be having classes). An ALERT message will be posted on the homepage for KUMC if there is an adjustment to class schedules. Use common sense and plan ahead - you are responsible for all material presented as part of this seminar.

Attendance Policy: Attendance at all class sessions is expected as much of the course content will only be covered in class. Although attendance will not be taken, missing class will have an impact upon your learning and professional development. An anticipated absence should be discussed with the instructor prior to the class meetings. A cooperative approach to learning among students (i.e., study groups, discussion sessions) is encouraged strongly, and should be considered from the outset of this course.

Class Evaluations: An important part of all learning and teaching is regular evaluation. Your evaluation of the instructor and the course content will be very important for helping to continually improve this classroom experience. I feel that student evaluations are particularly helpful in gauging the quality of a course and its content. Your evaluations will be taken seriously, and they deserve your careful thought. For this reason, two sample forms appear as part of the packet for this course - one for a mid-semester evaluation and another for an end of term evaluation. These samples are presented so that as the term progresses you may think about the things that make this a good course and the things that could stand to be improved. I encourage you to jot these things or ideas down as they occur, rather than waiting to fill an evaluation out at the last minute. You can then copy your accumulated comments onto the form I will supply in class. Be proactive - this is a good opportunity for you to help me teach effectively!

Student Responsibility: If you do not understand and/or accept the contents and terms of this syllabus, you must notify the instructor in writing within one week after receiving this syllabus.

End of OCTH 445 syllabus