Active learning strategies using PICTAV for occupational therapy students / Nur Sakinah Baharudin ... [et al.]

Introduction: Formal lectures and laboratory demonstrations sometimes are less interesting. The Orthotic and Pressure Garment course is an elective course for occupational therapy students, and they are required to pass this subject. However, some students had difficulty scoring higher marks for the theory topic and lack of skills in designing and fabricating splint and pressure garments. The use of Patients’ Involvement, Collaborative Teaching, and Audio-video (PICTAV) teaching aids can help students to understand concepts and ideas better. Methods: 14 students were involved in this course. A burning case patient was invited for learning history-taking and interviews in a patients’ involvement session. An invited guest lecture by an industry expert for collaborative teaching was done to share knowledge and demonstrations on splint fabrication. All lesson content was uploaded to the Orthotic and Pressure garment Instagram. Results: The result from the student feedback form in all activities showed higher satisfaction. About 92.9% (n=13) of students agree that the patients’ involvement session had increased knowledge in history-taking and interviews. Similar to collaborative teaching, about 92.9% (n=13) of students agree that the program had increased knowledge in designing and fabricating splints. All students respond well with all materials uploaded on Instagram and found that it was really helpful for them to do revisions. Conclusion: Patients’ involvement session provides students with a real situation in the field work and makes them understand everything better. Demonstrations by experts raised student confidence and interest. Meanwhile, recorded practice sessions or lecture notes help to recall. These active learning strategies are some innovative ideas in post-normal times that can be used for other laboratory courses in occupational therapy programs to improve students’ understanding.