Faculty Spotlight – Dr. Young Kim

Name: Young Kim

Department: Occupational Therapy

College: Allied Health Science

Course: OCCT6007/6008 Health Impairments and Occupational Therapy II lecture and clinical lab

Course Description: we have 26 Master of Science in Occupational Therapy (MSOT) students in OCCT6200 lecture and 12 and 14 MSOT students in OCCT6250 clinical labs. All lectures and clinical labs meet in person to learn about clinical adult conditions and have hands-on experience in clinical assessment tools.

In my face-to-face class I: give a 35-minute lecture on a clinical adult condition and facilitate student-led learning activities for 45 minutes during the lecture class. In the lab class, I give a brief overview of clinical assessment tools, have students administer or explore those clinical assessment tools, and lead discussion sessions after administration or exploration.

I did this because: students appreciate (1) the lecture that integrate the textbook facts with clinical experience from the instructor and (2) opportunities to apply the learned knowledge to learning activities and hands-on experience.

Now I am: synchronously giving a 35-minute lecture using videoconferencing on Microsoft Teams and facilitating learning activities led by students typically in several “Channels” within the Team. During the lab classes, students are synchronously provided with a brief overview of the clinical assessment tools, access to manuals and administration videos, and opportunities for discussion and questions with a clear written plan for the entire lab. All lectures and labs are video-recorded in Teams and posted on Mediasite manually.

I chose this strategy because: Microsoft Teams is a reliable and stable videoconferencing platform to synchronously interact with a large number of students. It is also a great tool to quickly split students into small groups and bring them back to a large group. I found that the majority of students preferred synchronous sessions because they are still in their “routine” and can easily interact with the instructor real-time rather than “playing tag” to ask questions.

Anything else you would like to share: I like the feeling of teaching through synchronous videoconferencing because I can see my students listening, taking notes, and asking questions. Personally, I prefer the video and audio quality of Microsoft Teams to Cisco WebEx, although you can only see up to 4 people at a time on Teams (vs. a lot more on WebEx). Because of the potential confusion and complexity, I would not recommend to split the groups more than 2 levels (main Team + satellite Teams with Channels). Teaching through Microsoft Teams can be a great way of instruction when I may have to be away from campus in the future (as we all are doing now!).

These spotlights are meant to spark ideas as we work together as a campus community to continue to facilitate student learning and engagement, possibly in new and creative ways. Some things we do during these unusual circumstances will be extraordinary, some will be good, and some will be just fine for now.

As we share ideas and keep our eyes on our mission, thank you Pirate Faculty, for your commitment to just keep teaching!