In occupational therapy practice, critical thinking is a foundational skill for the delivery of effective care; however, there is limited evidence on the development of critical thinking skills in occupational therapy education. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects and student perceptions of concept mapping on critical thinking skills in occupational therapy education. This study used a quasiexperimental design with a retrospective pre-post assessment after two teaching conditions: (a) traditional lecture and (b) concept mapping. The same convenience sample of students was used for each condition. Additional outcome measures included assessment of student concept maps using a scoring rubric and a survey of students' perceptions on the use of concept mapping. Results of the retrospective pre-post assessment indicated significant gains in student knowledge (p<0.001) following both the concept mapping activity (n=39) and traditional lecture (n=46). Assessment of the concept maps along with the results of the student survey indicated that concept mapping supported student use of key critical thinking skills including interpreting knowledge, understanding relationships, communicating their rationale, and reflecting on their thinking. Overall, students reported strong affective acceptance of concept mapping and found concept mapping easy to use. Given these findings, occupational therapy educators need to consider incorporating concept mapping as a form of active, student-centered learning to support enhanced knowledge of content and higher-level thinking.