Consider using the Occupations in Higher Education Transitions Inventory
Overview
The Occupations in Higher Education Transitions Inventory (OHETI) looks at how well students are adapting their daily life to be successful at school. Students answer a series of questions about their life – sleep, nutrition, physical activity, academics, caregiving, spirtituality,leisure, and work activities. Once the assessment is completed, students get instant feedback about what they are doing well and where they could do better. They receive a personalized email with links to resources, videos, and activities to improve in the areas where they struggle.
By incorporating this screening tool into a course, instructors can provide students with valuable insights into their personal adaptation strategies while gaining a deeper understanding of their students’ needs. This tool empowers both students and educators to create a more supportive and successful academic environment.
Assessment details
Students are assessed based on their self-reported answers to a series of questions. Students rate themselves on a 5-point scale from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree”. This scale helps measure how well students feel they’re adapting to each aspect of their daily life.
Questions focus on three primary areas:
- Feeling on top of things (that’s what we call “effectiveness”)
- This is about how well students feel they’re handling their daily college tasks
- Are they managing their time well? Keeping up with assignments? Balancing study and social life?
- When students feel on top of things, they’re more likely to stick with their studies and graduate
- Getting stuff done (we call this “efficiency”)
- This is about actually completing tasks and achieving goals
- Are students turning in assignments on time? Making it to class? Participating in campus activities?
- Students who can get things done tend to have better grades and more confidence
- Liking what they’re doing (this is “satisfaction”)
- This is about how happy and fulfilled students feel with their college experience
- Are they enjoying their classes? Making friends? Feeling good about their choice of school?
- Satisfied students are more likely to be motivated, engaged, and successful in their studies
Procedures
Each student will be given a link or access code to take the assessment. Student will log-in and provide demographic details. Student will progress through the tool, rating how well they agree with each statement. Each section begins with a screening question and proceeds based on answer.
Reliability and validity (in progress)
A team of three occupational therapy professionals (Keptner, Rogers, and Lee) developed the initial assessment tool items through an iterative process. Keptner & Roger’s (2018) work informed occupations important for adaptation to university while Keptner’s (2019) work solidified a connection between occupation and adaptation in university students. Occupational therapy student support provided additional critical eyes to the initial development of the tool.
The first round of face validity was assessed through two experts in the theory of occupational adaptation. After the initial face validity, items on the tool were restructured to more accurately reflect the theory of occupational adaptation as relevant to college students with careful attention to assuring that items in each occupation measured constructs of occupational adaptation – in particular, efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction – as discussed with the experts.
After this initial face validity testing, field testing of the tool was conducted with nine undergraduate university students. During field testing, the tool was administered to the students while discussing items with the students, what they thought questions meant, how scoring might have been influenced by student understanding of the questions asked, and if they thought the breadth of the assessment allowed for comprehensive understanding of the students’ needs. Following field testing, items were again revised and edited based on feedback.