My teaching partner brought in an article on the scientific method that he thought would be good to use in our evidence-based practice class:

The Truth Wears Off

I was impressed with the argument, but the copy was marked up and I went looking for a better copy (the link above), but then happened across a counter-argument:

Jonah Lehrer’s ‘Decline Effect’, Now in Decline

This was eye-opening; and it also has an internal link to a really neat science blog by PZ Myers:

Pharyngula

I just had to share these because they are so intellectually stimulating.

This man is brilliant and I totally agree with his message.  Enjoy:

http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

For added fun, watch the RSA Animate version of another of his talks,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

And watch more of the TED talks  http://www.ted.com/  on a wide variety of topics.

It is heartening to know there are brilliant thinkers in the world and they are trying to make this a better place.

I still believe in doing – especially doing constructive, craft-oriented activities.

I was trying to find a mental health OT in Atlanta, GA for a program applicant to shadow (unsuccessfully). The search did bring up Recreation Therapy, Horticultural Therapy, and Activities Therapy. I consider all these areas to be part of our discipline, yet they consider themselves stand-alone (or so I suspect). I mourn the loss of these modalities and sincerely hope some people will gather evidence to demonstrate the usefulness of such occupations as facilitated by OTs, in the habilitation/rehabilitation of our clients.

200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes – Gapminder.org.

Fascinating video

I find it very difficult watching what is going on in Wisconsin, Ohio and much of the rest of the country as politicians financially dismantle an already struggling education system. Why is it so hard for them to connect the dots between basic education and the country’s standing and ability to compete and survive in the world?  Granted, there is a lot to be improved in how  our current educational system is functioning, but squeezing teachers (who are often fairly low on the remuneration totem pole to begin with) is incredibly short-sighted/present-thinking.

RSA Animate has an interesting animation on that topic: 

RSA Animate illustrating a talk on education by Sir Ken Robinson – brilliant man.

Will begin using POGIL in this Fall’s Evidence Based Practice – Process Oriented Guided Instruction Learning. It is more structured than PBL yet still experiential – wish us good learning!

I am in better spirits after hearing the debriefing on Level I FW from our students in Mental Health. They were thoughtful, empathic, and aware of the need for occupation-based interventions. Definitely a relief to the stress of the last post, though the question on approach remains. Some faculty seem able to manage the three-fold approach to university life (teach, research, serve) better than others. By this I mean they manage to do all three reasonably well. The rest of us seem to manage one well, another moderately and cannot quite get the third (which ones vary for each of us).

There is one website (that I can think of now) that may assist in this management issue:

Dumb Little Man Tips for Life covers time management, optimism/self-esteem, lots more

And there is a great website for  inspiration/hope/great ideas:

TED Ideas Worth Spreading

Have a good day!

I would like to visit an OT program that uses a primary problem-based learning approach. I would like to see it in action. I feel in my gut, and know from various readings, that experiential is the way to foster the best learning. It is just so challenging to implement when students are so used to having PowerPoint lectures with full handouts.

I want <more> time in a curriculum to actually discuss process. To let everyone reflect on the learning of therapeutic skill. To be comfortable with silence that is filled with thought.

The student-turned-consumer does not generally appreciate such strategies. S/he just wants the black and white facts and how-to’s.

I fear we will lose ourselves as a profession if this is the way of academic programs. If our new therapists no longer have the imagination, innovation, and depth from which the profession developed, we will go the way of the dodo.

Just got back from the GOTA Annual Conference, held in Gainesville, GA. It was a good networking and educational experience. Florence Clark, AOTA’s President-Elect, gave an inspiring keynote address focusing on claiming our power as therapists.