Content area
This study was designed to explore the perceptions of key constituents toward the weekend college format. The study is a case study format based on the occupational therapy department at a private Midwest college. The occupational therapy department at the site of the study currently offers two weekend format programs, the entry-level bachelors and entry level masters. A traditional day format, bachelors program is also offered. The day and weekend programs are accredited as one program, which happens to be offered in two formats. Quantitative information from this department shows that students perform equally well on National Certification Exams regardless of educational format. The current study was designed as a qualitative study to explore in depth, how select constituents beyond the student groups view the weekend format occupational therapy programs. Thirty-eight constituents participated in semi-structured interviews. Subjects included graduates of the masters occupational therapy program, current and past college administrators, clinical fieldwork supervisors, current and former occupational therapy faculty, occupational therapy managers, and faculty from other health programs at the college. The narrative data from the interviews was analyzed for content and meaning using an inductive analysis process (Bogdan & Biklen, 1992) and Bolman and Deal's (1991) four frame scheme for analyzing organizational issues. Bolman and Deal's frames look at information from structural, human resource, political and symbolic perspectives. This analysis framework was useful in categorizing responses by content as well as offering insights as to the basis and motivation for perceptions toward the weekend format.
Overall, the weekend format studied is viewed differently than the same program offered in a day format. In some cases it was seen as a “secondary” choice to an equivalent day program. The weekend format did offer accessibility and opportunity, but with perceived qualifiers. Constituent descriptions and perceptions characterize the weekend program as a different culture from the day program, in terms of type of students, teaching methods, use of time, and status within the college. One of the implications of this study is that program evaluation measures would benefit from qualitative as well as quantitative measures. Constituents also offered specific and more global recommendations for improving the weekend format.