Olivia West Hammond from Penn State presented “The Occupation of Learning: Re-imagining the OT Classroom Post-pandemic” as a recorded twenty-minute session at Lilly Conference online. West Hammond teaches at a smaller Penn State campus in the occupational therapy assistant program. This is a 2.5-year program with mostly commuter students. West Hammond also defined occupational therapy and how “it combines science, art, and a creative spirit and I truly feel that occupational therapy changes lives.” The program is accredited by ACOTE, and they have 113 standards! West Hammond spoke about creative Zoom teaching during the pandemic and how to move forward post-pandemic. After consulting with their teaching and learning center, West Hammond thought about incorporating the jigsaw technique. I find this approach really fascinating and also tough. West Hammond mentioned that Elliot Aronson, a social psychologist, developed the technique to decrease racial tension. I did not know that! The history of Aronson and the jigsaw approach are intriguing. West Hammond shared jigsaw activity examples in which different teams focused on topics such as mental health, fall prevention, home environment, and family education for a scenario. West Hammond shared data from Walker and Corgan 1998 demonstrating improved attitudes towards peers and reduced indicators of racial prejudice after participating in jigsaw activities! West Hammond explained the different variations of the jigsaw with jigsaws I, II, III, and IV. These vary with when and how groups share the expert knowledge. In West Hammond’s class, once groups were tasked with coming up with treatment plans. Student responses seemed positive, and West Hammond mentioned the importance of working as interprofessional teams. West Hammond has an IRB to evaluate the impacts of jigsaw using a within-subject design. They also shared some suggestions: start small, set yourself up for success, pick one topic/lesson, add a little hype, check in with your groups, and elicit feedback. I haven’t tried a jigsaw in a while… I wonder how we can incorporate this approach in BIT 295 for projects?
