Resources Technology Workshops Services UO Showcase

Program Staff

TEPlist

Private Consultations

Classroom Observation

Document Feedback

Midterm Feedback

Videotaping

House Calls

Departmental Training

Teaching Portfolio

GTF Teaching Award

Search TEP site

 

 

 

...Home > Services > Newsletter > Lizard Index > 2000-2001 Issues > A Unique Collaboration

A Unique Collaboration
McKay Moore Sohlberg, Communication Disorders Program

It began winter term over a cup of coffee. Two UO professors shared ideas for a teaching collaboration. An unlikely duo – Stephen Fickas, full professor in Computer Information Science and McKay Moore Sohlberg, associate professor in the Communication Disorders Program in the College of Education – discussed something they did have in common which was their commitment to problem-based learning techniques. Both professors believe students learn most effectively when they are actively involved in the learning process.

Steve was scheduled to teach his advanced software engineering course, CIS 650, spring term. McKay was scheduled to supervise student clinicians learning cognitive rehabilitation techniques to help individuals who have memory and learning impairments following traumatic brain injuries. Steve pondered whether his computer science students could meet their course objectives by designing assistive technology useful to the clients with cognitive difficulties. McKay wondered whether the clients with cognitive disabilities and her students might provide input into the software design process and extend their information about compensation strategies for cognitive impairments. The collaboration commenced, and several more cups of coffee were shared.

Steve organized his course by dividing students into work groups, each of which tackled a different assistive technology project. One group was given an assignment to develop specialized e-mail programs that would allow persons with severe memory impairments to independently use e-mail. Another group worked on designing a travel assistant that would permit persons with cognitive difficulties to access the community (e.g., go to the mall) by wearing a computer that reminded them where they were going and gave them continuous location information so they could utilize the bus system. A third group…to utilize the assistive technologies.

The course began with McKay lecturing on the changes in memory and cognitive abilities that occur following brain injury. She provided the theoretical background and invited three persons in our community with brain injury to describe how changes in these abilities affect their performance of daily activities including the use of computers. The CIS students used this information in conjunction with course content to design relevant software. McKay and her clients acted as consultants and provided ongoing feedback to the students as they worked on their projects. Students were able to evaluate their work by observing the clients with memory impairments implementing their designs.

Student comments provide the best description of the course success. One student wrote “Collaboration with McKay and her users was essential in creating a prototype of the email/travel system in CIS 650. She provided us with background information on memory loss so that we could design the initial prototype. Even so, our first efforts yielded components with too much complexity. Feedback from McKay and her clients minimized the time lost and increased our understanding. This cycle of development and feedback enabled us to produce functional prototypes of the various components.”

Another student commented that, “I thought the most useful part was having the clients review our designs and prototypes. They had a different set of expectations and needs with the software that were not obvious until we asked them questions or sat them down in front of the screen.”

Some students noted that the education experience extended beyond learning about software design, “Besides broadening my knowledge of the human brain, producing work that might end up improving the life of people with disabilities has been very positive. Many times students learn how to do things and don’t pay much attention to or forget why they are learning. Developing joint projects such as this one could help raise the social awareness and educate CIS students towards developing or integrating technology in a sane way. I hope you can continue this joint work.”

McKay reported that her favorite moment was watching the CIS students ask Mike, a young man with severe brain injury, his opinion about how a computer screen should be formatted. His labored speech, while slow, contained important insights about what people with memory problems would need in order to use the computer application. The CIS students waited patiently. They needed the information he possessed. Mike later shared with McKay how great it felt to be useful.

The collaboration between Computer Information Science and College of Education continues. Drs. Fickas and Sohlberg are gathering pilot data this summer to learn more about the specific needs of persons with a variety of cognitive impairments for using different computer applications. Students in both of their programs report feeling enhanced from this continued partnership.

 

---