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Moving forward: Exploring failure to facilitate success in occupational therapy students
Abstract   Peer reviewed

Moving forward: Exploring failure to facilitate success in occupational therapy students

Linda Furness, Michelle Bissett, Maggie Scorey, Jena Buchan, Nicola Whiteing and Shayleigh Walker-Jones
Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, Vol.72(S1), pp.43-43
31st National Conference and Exhibition 2025 (OTAUS) , 31st (Adelaide, Australia, 24/06/2025–27/06/2025)
06/2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1440-1630.70024
Appears in  Recent Faculty of Health Publications
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Abstract

Introduction: The ongoing demand for workplace-ready occupational therapy (OT) graduates prompted this research to understand OT student experience and what impacts progression to graduate readiness. With little known about factors contributing to academic failure in OT students, including how students experience failure, working to identify these factors and the related student experience will enable development of innovative curriculum initiatives to enhance student success. Ultimately, this will contribute to work-ready OT graduates. Objectives: This project aims to understand factors that may impact OT students' unit success and personal experience of failure, ultimately guiding development of remediation strategies to increase success. Method: Retrospective course data from 2013 to 2020 were used to profile demographic variables related to failure in Southern Cross University (SCU) OT units. Variables included age at enrolment, gender, ethnicity, student type (domestic/international), SCU entry pathway, ATAR score, first in family to attend university, socio-economic status, and course GPA. Results: Median student age (n = 831) was 27 years, with 84.4% of students identified as female and 2.9% identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Preliminary results show 12.8% had failed one OT unit, and 17.2% had failed multiple, with the majority of units being first-year or introductory units. Additionally, students who were younger, male, and residing in metropolitan areas were more likely to fail. Conclusion: By identifying factors influencing student success, OT educators can target strategies to support at-risk students. In this presentation, we will share our plans to continue collecting qualitative and quantitative date to inform interventions to enhance student success.

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