title: The impact of 'Generation Y' occupational therapy students on practice education.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Many occupational therapy students can be classified as 'Generation Y', a group whose characteristics are perceived as being confident, optimistic and 'techno-savvy'. This study aimed to explore practice educator perceptions of 'Generation Y' students.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire survey was sent to all practice educators affiliated with the university. The survey contained fixed choice questions on demographics and educators' knowledge of the term 'Generation Y', followed by open-ended questions on practice educator perceptions of occupational therapy 'Generation Y' students and the educational strategies used in practice education.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Anonymous responses were analysed using descriptive statistics, attribute coding and content analysis. Most educators considered that there was, in fact, a 'Generation Y student', describing them as confident with technology, over confident in their skill level and easily bored. Practice educators raised concerns regarding students' casual communication, poor professional behaviour, shallow professional reasoning and difficulty when receiving negative feedback.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, the results of this study suggest that 'Generation Y' students are having both a negative and a positive impact on practice education in occupational therapy. For educators, management of the overconfident student and professional reasoning development should be addressed in university practice education workshops. For students, the need for clarification of placement expectations on professional behaviour and communication was indicated. Students may also require 'listening to feedback' skill development prior to practice education. Universities and practice educators should consider the development of technological resources for practice education, including simulation, to meet the needs of the, now recognised 'Generation Y' student.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hills
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.forename: Derek R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Warren-Forward
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D004522:Educational Status; D005178:Faculty; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D008297:Male; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000193:education*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013334:Students; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*; D000078329:Workforce; D055815:Young Adult