In this activity, students develop a PowerPoint presentation to be used by both a stroke patient and his/her family. I developed the activity in this format because I believed that these students were tired of doing a traditional treatment plan and wanted to explore other options. I also chose this format as a result of standards set up by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education which requires that Occupational Therapy Assistant students be able to disseminate information to their clients and clients’ families through the use of technology.
This particular group of students welcomed this assignment with open arms. Their level of comfort was high because of having used Blackboard and the Internet in two other Occupational Therapy courses prior to taking this course. Developing the PowerPoint presentation was new to them.
You must go through the process of creating a presentation yourself prior to teaching the class in order to anticipate the kinds of problems and questions that arise. The students responded well to having my sample PowerPoint posted on Blackboard and found it useful to have this as an example to guide them. I think posting the sample PowerPoint helped to decrease the number of questions I normally would have had to answer with a paper treatment plan. My sample PowerPoint guided and assisted the students in developing their own presentations.
The major difficulty for me was in getting a few of the student groups to divide up the work in an equitable manner. You need to have a clear idea of what it is you want the students to do or this type of assignment can become overwhelming for both you and the students.
I learned that information can be taught in a variety of ways. I was concerned that the students would have difficulty with the concept of using technology as a vehicle to present occupational therapy to the general public, and also with putting together a presentation that would be both beneficial to the client and family but also of professional quality. The students were able to meet the challenge and incorporated their unique style in the final presentation. I believe that having the opportunity to create a presentation, rather than just write a traditional treatment plan, added a new twist to what has been considered a boring assignment.
I would do this assignment again because it was an excellent learning strategy for the students. It gave them an opportunity to plan, organize and create work that reflected their own unique style and helped them to incorporate technology in the field of occupational therapy.
My Student Technology Mentor was very helpful with the technical piece of the project. Since he is also a student, he was able to ask clarifying questions that assisted me in making this assignment a great success. I also took my time in developing this assignment. I nurtured it until I was comfortable with asking the students to do the assignment. I also got feedback from my colleagues in the Occupational Therapy program, which assisted me in developing this project.
Activity Overview
As noted above, in this activity, students develop a PowerPoint presentation to be used by both a stroke patient and his/her family. The presentation has to explain the different aspects of treatment during rehabilitation, incorporating helpful hints to be used at home after the patient has been discharged. The emphasis is not only on treatment but also on helping the individual and the family understand what it means to survive a stroke. Students are instructed to create a visual guide for the consumer that could be used instead of a brochure.
Preparation for this project was done one semester prior to teaching this class. In order to prepare the class for this assignment, I created my own PowerPoint presentation so the students could see a model. I posted my presentation on the class Blackboard site which the students had access to throughout the semester. I also gave the students a two-page summary of a case study as a guide to use in preparing their work. I arranged for lab time and assistance from a Student Technology Mentor prior to the beginning of the semester.
This course is normally completely lecture based, and devoting class time to the PowerPoint work required that I identify how the materials not covered in lecture would be addressed. I decided to prepare lecture notes for these materials, distribute them in class, and post them on Blackboard. The Blackboard Discussion Board function made it easy for students to ask for and receive clarification regarding any questions they had with regard to the lecture notes. Students were assigned time to go online to communicate with me regarding any concerns or questions surrounding the notes.
Students were given the choice of working in groups or individually. Two students elected to work individually and the rest of the class worked in groups. My role in lab was that of a consultant regarding clinical information; the Student Technology Mentor provided technical assistance to students as they developed their presentations. Each lab session met for 2.5 hours.
Evaluation guidelines were distributed on the first day of class with the case study. The students were graded on the content and the scope and clarity of the presentation. Students received immediate feedback from the instructor and their fellow classmates following the presentations. The project was considered as 25% of their grade.
Materials and Resources
Here is a presentation that one of my students created for this activity: Functional Life After a Stroke.