Departmental Thesis Requirements

In collaboration with the DHL and the honor's mentor, the student will design their thesis that meets their needs. However, the honor's thesis within the Department of Occupational & Recreational Therapies (OTRT) could be in the form of a small research project with an abstract written with the results, a developed program plan for a specific program or intervention, a scoping or systematic review manuscript, a scholarly conceptual paper, an oral presentation, advocacy work, development of an app, software or website that could be used in practice, development of a low-cost invention that supports clients in the acquistion of daily life activities, and so forth.

How will Collaborator Contributions be Assessed and Documented?

Collaborator contributions will be monitored by each Honors student with a weekly check-in with the honors mentor. This check-in will include discussion about what each student has been doing concerning the thesis. The Honors mentor may request additional documentation or assessment as determined in the first few meetings with the Honors students.

How does the Honors Thesis relate to other aspects of the major, like a Capstone Project?

The Department of Occupational & Recreational Therapies has two different programs. Within the recreational therapy program, there are several potential projects or coursework that can be used as a starting point for the honors thesis. This will need to be discussed and determined with the faculty mentor.

Departmental Coursework Supporting Thesis

There is only one undergraduate course within the occupational therapy program, it will be at the discretion of the faculty mentor from occupational therapy to determine if coursework in the department can support the thesis.

Additional Information for Students

Students should have a basic interest or idea when they first meet with the DHL. However, it is not required. Students should anticipate a minimum 30 minute meeting with the DHL prior to thesis work. During the thesis work, students should expect to meet with their faculty mentor for a hour at least once per week.