Abstract
BACKGROUND: Given the characteristics of the rehabilitation therapy specialty and the drawback of the traditional didactic teaching approach, we developed the innovative teaching approach from the students' perspective using the person-environment-occupation (PEO) model. The new model was developed from the original PEO model to be applied in pedagogical contexts and tailored to the characteristics of an application-oriented specialty, such as rehabilitation therapy. The present study aimed to examine the perceived effectiveness of the PEO innovative teaching model applied to rehabilitation therapy students. METHODS: A pre-post descriptive study was conducted to compare the perceived effectiveness of the PEO innovative teaching model for two consecutive student cohorts. A purposive sampling method was used to recruit students from two cohorts of junior medical students majoring in rehabilitation therapy in the spring semesters of 2020 and 2021. A questionnaire was developed to evaluate the perceived effectiveness of the PEO innovative teaching model. SPSS version 26.0 was used to perform data analysis. RESULTS: A total of 112 students were included in the study and completed both pre- and post-tests. Of 112 received questionnaires, 101 were considered as valid questionnaires after the quality check (effective rate 90.18%). In the 2020 and 2021 cohorts, students rated the PEO innovative teaching model significantly higher than the didactic teaching approach in the following aspects: the teaching content is highly professional and valuable; the course is extensively expounded; the clinical reasoning is strengthened; problem-solving ability is developed; communication skills are improved; and teamwork skills are developed. CONCLUSION: The PEO innovative teaching model was perceived to be an effective teaching strategy to enhance students' academic performance. In addition, three core skills including clinical reasoning, problem-solving ability, and communication skills were improved by the PEO innovative teaching model.