The effectiveness of a presentation on sophomore high school students' knowledge of occupational therapy and career choice

This study utilized a sample of convenience to examine the effect of a career-related presentation given by a graduate occupational therapy student on sophomore high school students' knowledge of occupational therapy and their perceptions of it as a career choice. The social learning theory by Bandura (1977) was chosen as a conceptual framework for this study. Twenty-one high school sophomore students in two 10th-grade classes observed a 30-minute presentation and completed a researcher-developed pretest and posttest. The results of a paired t test indicated that subjects' knowledge of occupational therapy significantly improved following the presentation by the researcher (t = 8.31, p < .01). Additionally, the presentation influenced the students' willingness to consider occupational therapy as a future career choice (t = 4.54, p < .01).