Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the Student Link for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• SAR OT 529: Occupation Across the Life Course
  This course examines current theory and research related to the development of human occupation throughout the life course. Human development is viewed from occupation-based and ecological perspectives, emphasizing the inextricable links among person, environment, and occupation. The performance of activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, work/education, play/leisure, and social participation, especially as potentially affected by health and disability, will be examined across the life course. Students are required to observe, interpret, and describe occupational performance, and to apply relevant theories and constructs to understand the development of human occupation. Students will begin to develop a base of knowledge about different types, administration, and interpretation of assessment methods and measures.
• SAR OT 530: Occupation Based Practice with Groups
  This Level I Fieldwork Practicum and Integrative Seminar in Occupational Therapy is the culminating course in a four-semester course sequence. It is designed to enhance clinical reasoning by integrating knowledge and skills from current and previous courses with a weekly fieldwork experience. Students use principles of program development, needs assessment, group intervention planning and implementation, along with theory and research evidence, to design and co-lead occupation-centered groups in a variety of practice settings and contexts with child, adult and elder populations. Readings, independent learning, and group supervision are combined with assignments specific to planning and leading a group. Class participation and independent learning are an essential aspect of this course.
• SAR OT 538: Assistive Technology
  This course provides a lecture and laboratory-based introduction on the use of assistive technologies and related issues, such as funding and legislation. Since the area of assistive technology is a rapidly changing and dynamic one, this course is designed to provide a basic understanding of various types of technologies, user populations, and environments. It is also designed to provide informational resources for students to access later in clinical experiences.
• SAR OT 556: Neuroscience for Occupational Therapy
  In this foundation neuroscience course, the student will be presented with topics including histology of the central nervous system, gross anatomy and organization of the central nervous system, cross-sectional anatomy of the brainstem and spinal cord, autonomic nervous system anatomy and function, ascending sensory pathways, descending motor pathways, cranial nerves: location, fibers course and function, vasculature of the brain, brainstem, and spinal cord, visual system, vestibular system, auditory system, cerebellum, basal ganglia, cerebral cortical structure and function, limbic system: learning and memory, and development and normal aging of the nervous system. In addition to an in depth discussion of the neuroanatomy of each of the above systems and structures, each topic will have an applied component in which students will investigate the impact of these systems and structures on function. Students will be presented with case studies in class and in the lab portion of the course which reinforce the clinical application of the course topics. In lab, students will also conduct exercises related to the testing of neurological function and investigate neuranaotmic structures using brain atlases and images.
• SAR OT 562: Learning and Behavior Change
  This graduate course in occupational therapy is designed to examine interdisciplinary theories and methods of learning and behavior change that inform current OT theoretical approaches and interventions. The course explores the impact of various clinical conditions and cognitive function on learning and behavior change. Readings, independent learning and group activities are combined with assignments focused on 1) analyzing theory as a guiding principle in designing evidence-based, occupation and client centered interventions, and 2) demonstrating an understanding of selected occupational therapy assessments that include a metacognitive or dynamic component, including knowledge of assessment procedures and clinical implications of assessment findings. Class participation and independent learning are an essential aspect of this course. Class format is lecture and application discussions.
• SAR OT 563: Context and Occupational Performance
  This graduate course in occupational therapy is designed to be taken concurrently with two other complementary courses: OT564 and OT503 (Integrative Seminar/LIFW III). This course focuses on knowledge and resources needed for effective clinical reasoning in occupation therapy practice. Topics covered include practice contexts/environments, healthcare/education regulations and policies, and interdisciplinary practitioner roles. Content is applied particularly to individuals living with long-term conditions who are most likely to benefit from compensatory and adaptive interventions to enable performance of meaningful occupations. Classes consist primarily of lectures, group discussions, audiovisual presentations, and case study discussions.
• SAR OT 564: Skills for Occupation Based Practice I
  This companion course to OT563 Context and OT502 Integrative Seminar III emphasizes the development of assessment and intervention skills for working with individuals living with chronic conditions likely to benefit from compensatory and adaptive strategies. Students have opportunity for hands-on practice in selecting, administering, and interpreting assessments, as well as choosing and implementing occupation-based interventions. Best practice is promoted by requiring students to support their assessment and intervention choices through theoretical and empirical evidence.
• SAR OT 565: Skills for Occupation Based Practice II
  This companion course to OT566 Client Factors emphasizes the development of assessment and intervention skills for working with individuals living with conditions likely to benefit from remedial interventions directed toward performance skills and client factors. Students have opportunity for hands-on practice in selecting, administering, and interpreting assessments, as well as choosing and implementing interventions. Best practice is promoted by requiring students to support their assessment and intervention choices through theoretical and empirical evidence.
• SAR OT 568: Occupation-Based Practice for Individuals
  This course is designed to provide practice of skills to select and implement specific occupational therapy assessments and interventions. Specifically, this course provides opportunity for hands on practice to choose, administer and interpret assessments along with opportunity to develop collaborative goals, and choose, implement, and re-evaluate interventions. Documenting weekly sessions provide extensive practice of written communication. This course will focus on individuals living in the community with chronic conditions. Implementing client-centered, theory driven, evidence-based, and occupation-based interventions will be emphasized throughout. This class meets 2x/week, once as a large group and once/week for intervention session. Students spend time outside of class time reviewing the evidence, practicing administration of assessments, developing session plans, and preparing for client sessions.
• SAR OT 570: Special Topics in Occupational Therapy
  Advanced study in a selected area of occupational therapy theory or practice. Specific topic announced in the semester offered. Seminar and/or supervised laboratory study as appropriate to the particular topic.
• SAR OT 586: Professional Service Management
  This required graduate course provides a fundamental, critical overview of health care management principles. Detailed discussions, teamwork, practical case study experiences, as well as oral and written assignments will guide the soon-to-be entry-level occupational therapist to effectively manage people and resources, and to understand political, regulatory, economic, and social forces that are affecting a constantly changing and often complex health and rehabilitation environment. Major emphasis is on advocacy and legislation, reimbursement, financial planning, personnel management, leadership, negotiation skills, conflict resolution, ethics, grant writing, starting up a new program, business or practice, entrepreneurship, and marketing.
• SAR OT 589: Orientation to Practice
  This graduate course in occupational therapy is designed to orient and introduce students to current and emerging areas of practice. Guest faculty and practitioners will share their experience and expertise for various areas of practice to aid students in understanding the typical contexts of fieldwork experiences that will be an integral part of the curriculum. This course is intended to introduce students to common types of client populations across the lifespan and typical interventions and goals for areas of practice addressing mental health, pediatrics, and physical disabilities occupational needs and services. Goals, guidelines, policies and procedures for participating in the academic program's Level I (LIFW) and Level II (LIIFW) fieldwork programs will be reviewed. Training in confidentiality/privacy laws will be provided to support students in abiding by professional ethics and behaviors. Additionally, opportunities for professional development within and outside of the University will be highlighted.
• SAR OT 590: Fieldwork Seminar/Field Experience Fee
  Fee is equal to the cost of two credits. The Fieldwork Seminar is for students completing the didactic coursework in the program. Topics preparing for the transition from the academic setting to the practice setting, program policies and procedures, criteria for evaluating student performance, supervision issues, fieldwork experience responsibilities and information on certification, licensure and the job search.
• SAR OT 593: Level II Fieldwork I
  Full-time, on-site clinical experience.
• SAR OT 594: Level II Fieldwork II
  Full-time, on-site clinical experience.
• SAR OT 610: Health Promotion and Wellness
  This on-line graduate course focuses on developing a health promotion program grounded in theory. After an introduction to the field of public health and the role of occupational therapy in the area of health promotion and wellness, the course guides the student in the development of a program related to a health issue in his or her practice setting. The student will be introduced to frameworks and theories from public health and other disciplines and will then apply these as he or she develops a health promotion program. The student will read about and discuss programs in health promotion at the individual, group, and population level, for people with and without disabilities, and in a variety of environments. (3 credits)
• SAR OT 617: Contemporary Trends in Occupational Therapy
  This on-line graduate course examines three important current topics of discussion in occupational therapy. The first theme is client-centered practice: What is contemporary thinking about this principle and how does my practice reflect this principle? The second theme is occupation-centered practice: What does it mean to have occupation as the core focus of practice and what are current challenges to keeping this focus? The third theme is looking outward: How do the concerns of occupational therapy relate to work emerging in other fields and where might we find knowledge to enhance our practice, or collaborators who share similar concerns and values? The course assignments are designed to facilitate critical reflection on the student's own practice in relation to these developments.
• SAR OT 618: Directed Study in Evidence Based Practice
  This on-line graduate course builds on the knowledge and skills that were introduced in HP561: Evidence Based Practice and provides further practice in appraisal and application of research evidence. The course revisits some of the measurement issues introduced previously in more depth and examines other research approaches that provide evidence for practice, including single subject research and prediction designs. Additional topics include; how to use research evidence to evaluate and refine the models that guide clinical decision-making, and how to apply the methods and measures of research to gather outcomes evidence in one's own practice. The major assignments of the course are completed through participation in a virtual journal club with students collaborating in small groups to examine evidence on a question of mutual interest.
• SAR OT 620: Evidence-Based OT Practice II
  This is a graduate-level course for occupational therapy students designed to develop essential skills for conducting evidence-based practice. We will focus in detail on appraising the internal, external, and statistical validity of evidence related to intervention effectiveness and predicting client outcomes. We will examine evidence gathered using a variety of quantitative methods including group designs and meta-analytic approaches. Readings have been selected from a variety of peer-reviewed journals related to health and disability to introduce students to the interdisciplinary literature that may provide valuable evidence for occupational therapy practice.
• SAR OT 621: Evidence-Based OT Practice III
  This is the third course in a sequence that develops skills and knowledge for evidence-based occupational therapy practice. The course focuses on generating evidence for one's own practice. The course introduces students to methods to examine generating group level (program evaluation) individual outcomes (single subject design).

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