The Student-to-Student Binder

Many sites have a student fieldwork binder where you’ll find policies and procedures.  Having a “student to student” binder is an additional strategy for facilitating student learning and success in your workplace.

The “student-to-student” binder is a resource that students create (or add to) while they are on placement for the benefit of the next student(s) to be placed at your site.  The binder serves as an additional learning tool that can supplement the orientation that you already provide. 

What can go in the binder?

Practical details:

•  Lists of resources (vendor lists, community agencies, client handouts).  
•  A list of “who’s who” or “what’s where” (support staff, team members, where things can be found).  Some places will have organizational charts as part of their policies, but the day-to-day details that are most helpful aren’t always captured.  This list could include anything from “where to ask if you need a wrench” to “what do I do if I need something copied”.

Templates:

• What templates would be helpful?  What are typical letters and/or reports that are completed as part of your program? Having some generic templates as a starting place can help the student develop their charting/letter writing skills.

o   Funding letters?

o   Reports?

o   Initial assessments?

Resources:

• Background information:  This might be basic information on the typical diagnosis of the clients in your program and may or may not be specifically related to OT. 
• Literature review:

o   What’s best practice in this area?

o   What evidence is out there?

o   What is happening across the country in other programs?

What’s in it for you?

• Having a student work on/review/add to this binder can help you feel less guilty and responsible for the time that you spend on the phone, write notes, or are in meetings that aren’t appropriate for your student. 

• Having a literature search done each time you have a student helps you to ensure that you have the most up to date evidence and research that pertains to your area (this is especially important for those of us who feel we don’t have the time, access, or skill to look on our own!)

•  Once the resource is developed it relieves some of the pressure placed on you for orientation.  Sometimes it’s hard for us to know what is helpful information for students to access (remember that our “common sense” isn’t always common--there was a time when we didn’t yet know what we know!)

What’s in it for the student?

Process:

• Creating the binder can be a great learning tool and will develop self-directed learning skills.  Students need to ask themselves:

a) what do I already know?

b) what do I need to know?

c) how should I go about finding out about what I don’t know?

Product:

• Concrete learning tool for future students.     
•  Decreased anxiety: Tools that improve the orientation to a site help to create a safe learning environment for students to learn.  It is also comforting to know, “Oh good, another student needed to know that too”
• Improved learning: having a good foundation of resources can help facilitate better learning later in the placement.

The students might come up with other ideas, but this is definitely a start! 

Thank you to Cynthia P. for sharing this idea with us!

 -Lisa and Teresa