CEP 818: How Do I Love Thee: Synthesizing

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It’s a known fact that not everybody learns the exact same way. Everybody’s life experiences are also different. Why should education only be taught one way? It shouldn’t. 

There are so many ways to teach a lesson within a subject. Teaching a lesson or subject utilizing a variety of modes will reach the greatest number of minds. Though, I feel it is important to note that not everybody will respond positively to every mode thus lies the very reason to use a variety! 

The cognitive tools of creative thinking we’ve studied during the course of the semester build upon each other and each reflects having foundational knowledge.  Nearly every example given within Sparks of Genius is an example of a person looking at a situation through their lens of prior education and experiences. Rarely is one simply drawing upon a singular, one-dimensional sliver of education they are currently studying to solve a problem. Even thinking about learning something as basic as the alphabet, children learn to associate the letter ‘A’ with apple and ‘B’ with boy. I find it difficult to be able to discern whether learning something this basic could even be done without having some type of associated knowledge to relate it to. 

As an individual hopeful of a career in academia, I have realized there are many ways to view teaching a particular lesson or subject. There’s something more to education than having students read a book, complete a worksheet then take a test. It’s a matter of simply knowing versus understanding. Do worksheets aid in knowing or understanding? I feel the presentation of material and the interaction between the students and the material is where understanding takes place. Breaking down material into using these cognitive tools will aid the students to be better prepared to handle a side variety of situations as professionals because they will, hopefully, be better equipped to see an object, situation or otherwise from multiple perspectives and therefore be able to add some sort of value to it. 

Using perception is to take in information from all senses to make sense of an object or situation. In my line of work this is imperative. They must know what it is to observe with sight, sound, smell, touch and lastly taste, though I’ll admit, this sense is the least likely to be used directly. Though, if they are taught to be mindful utilizing the sense of taste, this mindfulness may carry over to other aspects of their perception of situations. This is type of ability is incredibly useful during the initial evaluative process. What is the patient/athlete saying? How do they look? How does their injury look? How does it feel? Is there a smell associated with the athlete? (Hygiene comes into play here!) An idea to enhance this perception and mindfulness is to take a piece of fruit and with their eyes closed try to discern what it is. Is it soft or firm? Round? What does it smell like? To fully appreciate what they perceive they must have the knowledge to know how to put these pieces of information together, hence trans-disciplinary studies. 

Patterning transcends subject matter! There’s always a method to the madness. The key is to find it. Figuring it out will lend itself to an anticipated outcome, something to be ready for. What about re-patterning? I think the hallmark sign to be able to re-pattern is to fully understand and appreciate the pattern that is discovered. If one does not understand the rhyme or reason then re-patterning cannot take place. I believe this could be a true test for understanding of a subject matter. Is the pattern of rehabilitation or a smaller pattern within it, able to be re-patterned? I suppose my students will have to let me know :) 

Abstracting is a skill useful to pick out what is essential in a situation. Building off this key point is what allows for subject matter to develop. A good activity for students may be to give them the elemental idea of my subject matter then have them build off it, using what they have learned within my class and others. It may be easy for some and not so easy for others. However, getting them to think this way will help them to break down ideas and situations so they are able to build their own. 

Embodied thinking requires putting one’s self wholly into something. Often times, I’ve found myself feeling with my arms and hands wanting to tape an ankle or a thumb. My limbs actually want to go through the motions of the tape application. The sensations do not leave until they have been satisfied. I want my students to know this material so well they can actually feel what needs to be done. They should also be able to put themselves in the position of the patient/athlete or the athlete’s coach or parent. Being able to see themselves from another’s perspective will help them be a better clinician. An activity involving kinesthetic thinking could be helping them prepare for testing. Can they imagine and act out tape jobs or special tests? If they can do these they are likely to be able to perform them well. 

Modeling is something students in this particular subject will utilize quite often. It’s extremely effective in teaching anatomy or concepts of injury or rehabilitation. As I discussed in module 6’s assignment, modeling is easily extended to the depths of human anatomy and is an excellent tool used to teach the subject. Modeling also utilizes other cognitive tools such as abstraction and because this is so, makes it all the more useful. 

Playing allows for freedom to divulge in the material in a non-threatening way. There is no right or wrong answer. This play allows for exploration of knowledge through pure curiosity. Though for this to take place, there must be knowledge present to play with. There can only be curiosity if there is some knowledge. I feel this is an important part of learning. Students should be able to take known information, question and explore it and possibly answer some of their own questions regarding it or even come up with more inquiries regarding concepts and ideas. I feel play is where new ideas are birthed and questions answered. 

Synthesizing-- combining skills and experiences across multiple disciplines. It’s combining perception with embodied thinking or playing and patterning.  Bringing these cognitive ideas together in dance, science, music, art, history. This is synthesizing. Would a physician make a good poet? Potentially, if he is a good physician. A good physician is one who is able to see the patient as a whole and observe them using their whole self. They should be able to feel the patient emotionally with the depths of themselves. If they are able to do this, they are able to feel and may pull upon this skill to reflect thoughts and emotions with their words, on paper. 

I believe if an individual is able to synthesize information across multiple subjects utilizing these cognitive tools, they are setting themselves up to be innovators; problem-solvers who come up with creative solutions to the world’s dilemmas. 

After having gone through this class, my new and improved definition of creativity is this: Taking information from multiple disciplines and coming up with a solution to a problem or situation and adding something valuable to it. The key to this statement is trans-disciplinary knowledge. Individuals must have a firm knowledge base in multiple subjects and be able to utilize several cognitive tools to develop answers to their own or another's question.

Elevator Speech

Creative minds utilize information across all genres of subject matter. In order to efficiently process a situation and come up with valuable insights or solutions, an individual must be able to draw upon a solid base of knowledge and use several cognitive tools to analyze the situation at hand. Trans-disciplinary education is therefore necessary to build this foundational knowledge for one must be able to make concrete connections spanning these disciplines in order to satisfy the world’s curiosities.

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The worlds smartest think with their mind and body. Experiences travel throughout all senses to cultivate an essential way of thinking.

CEP 818: Creative "I"- Architecture of Space

The Room

The pictures above are of the living room in my home. There are several aspects of this space that lend itself to my creativity and productivity. 

I am a naturalist in the sense that I very much appreciate nature and the beauty and resources it provides. This room in my house provides me with these things. Some were here before I and others I have manipulated to create my personal space.

For me, the most important aspect to this room is the large windows that lead to the out of doors. I grew up in the middle of 80 acres of wooded land so I grew up with nature and I feel my soul needs trees and natural elements to thrive. These windows lead the eye directly to the trees and plants living outside. Several feeders have been set up outside to invite the wildlife.

I also very much appreciate the natural elements within the room. The wood floors with wood trim encasing the windows and various other natural elements added to the room including the lanterns containing moss and the natural Alpaca rug.

Discussion

The article A Room of their own. Tech Trends brought to my attention the importance of being able to manipulate the surroundings one finds themselves in. After reading the article and considering carefully my surroundings, I concluded that the architect and/or designer of this house I call home has spent considerable time studying, whether conscious of it or not, the living behaviors of somebody likely to live in this house. The windows have been situated facing the the landscape instead of the road and let light into an entire half of the house. I believe they had anticipated furniture placement within the space when taking into consideration the sliding glass door, staircase placement and placement of various outlets and vents. 

I also thought about how I interact with my environment. I have placed natural elements around myself and set up furniture within the room to suit my needs. I'm sure people before me had it set up to suit their needs. The design of the room offers flexibility though it is up to the inhabitant to manipulate it to suit themselves and the uses they plan to get out of the space they are provided.  

CEP 818: How Do I Love Thee: Play

The art of rehabilitation of orthopedic injuries is deeply rooted in the sciences. Tissue healing rates, muscle activation patterns, use of modalities, etc. all have solid research to support evidence-based practice methods. Thousands of scientific studies have been conducted regarding the genre. Though, there is an element of play within the realm of rehabilitation.

Play is essentially taking the time to experiment without anticipating the result to have any impact on the subject matter in which the play is being performed. In my "introduction to rehab" activity below, I took the stance of students with fresh minds who know anatomy and the principles of rehabilitation. They are, for the most part, unaware of rehabilitative exercises.

The Activity
        

   

   

Students are introduced to the various equipment above and are then given a body part (shoulder, knee, ankle, etc) they are to focus on. They then are given free-reign to play with the equipment and figure out how to utilize it for that body part. My assumption is that by trying to figure it out for one body part they will inadvertently find other ways to use it for other body parts. They may even use more than one piece of equipment at a time. After a period of time they may switch to a different body part or body area and manipulate different equipment.

Discussion

I chose this activity because I feel it is a good way for students to familiarize themselves with equipment in a non-threatening way. Seeing equipment sitting around and having to use it without knowing how it feels or what potential lies within it is a very intimidating thing. This exercise provides a safe environment for them to play with the equipment and organically discover the many uses it provides in rehabilitation. I also anticipate they would discover several exercises they would utilize down the road. The intent from their perspective is to familiarize themselves with the equipment and how it works. My intent from a teaching standpoint is to let them familiarize but to also lay a foundation for teaching various exercises throughout the class.

There are no right and wrong answers in this activity. Rehab exercises are only limited by the creativity of the clinician. Not even equipment is a limiting factor. This activity is playful as it allows them to be creative and figure out various exercises on their own. Some will be commonplace though some would be new and different. It is meaningful for the same reason; they are able to figure out for themselves different exercises and can they refer back to them on an as needed basis. It is also a building block to teach exercises throughout the course.

I believe this activity is useful as it, again, creates a safe learning environment where they are not necessarily wrong answers. I also feel that being able to perform the exercise and being able to actually feel the muscles being worked is an important part of prescribing exercises in rehabilitation. If the clinician is unsure of how the exercise is supposed to feel (or actually feels...) how are they to relay this information to the patient? Having performed them first-hand often helps the clinician relay information to the patient regarding proper form and which muscles should be "burning".

CEP 818: How Do I Love Thee: Modeling

Modeling is a tool used to make sense of complex ideas or concepts. It can help take a complex idea and make it simpler to comprehend. Rehabilitation is very three-dimensional concept as it is comprised of working one-on-one with another human being. Everything being done is in the third dimension.

Without a doubt, knowledge of anatomy is the foundation of rehabilitation. It helps determine such things including what is injured, range of motion considerations and movement patterns. It is impossible to learn the depths of human anatomy while looking at somebody's skin! Learning anatomy via charts and pictures in a two-dimensional aspect is much easier, as seen in the first picture. This is typically done in the form of text books and handouts. But then, after learning in 2D, moving to 3D is essential; after all, rehabilitation is performed in 3D.Three-dimensional models of various body parts aid in this type of tactile learning. Most models allow for movement which aids in the understanding of injury mechanisms, movement limitations, and can even aid in the development of palpation skills. As you can see, the picture on the right of the shoulder model is identical to the picture on the left, except the model allows for kinesthetic play.

I chose this particular representation because knowledge of anatomy is so crucial. Anatomy is a topic that can be easily zoomed in or out on. Zooming in could get as close as looking at mitochondria or osteocytes (bone cells). Zooming out gives you a full-body picture a human being. This genre of material is easily translated from 3D to 2D and back again, almost flawlessly, as can be seen above.

I considered for a minute how it would be to learn anatomy only in the third-dimension. Then thought historically about this topic and realized that's exactly how these maps of the human body came to be. Nobody just knew where the muscles of the rotator cuff inserted without actually seeing it first hand. Granted, deductive reasoning could give a decent answer, but that answer is still assumed as watching the movement of the shoulder is still through skin and an accurate picture of the shoulder is not in place. Having a lesson or two utilizing a cadaver is luxury and each student having a model of each body part to take home and study is not cost-efficient. Having one or both of these available would aid in the understanding of anatomy though learning via pictures is much more practical.

 

Creative "I"- Variations on a Theme

http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/games/songs/childrens/twinklemp3.htm

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star                       Twinkle's "Creative" Parody_

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,                        Creativity is nice
How I wonder what you are.                    Doesn't have a hefty price
Up above the world so high,                     Greco-Roman thought it luck
Like a diamond in the sky.                        Now we know it, no luck struck.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,                        Creativity is nice
How I wonder what you are!                    Need not have to sacrifice

When the blazing sun is gone,                  Shakespeare and Twain play the game
When he nothing shines upon,                  Why keep everything the same?
Then you show your little light,                 Tweak ideas already in sight
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.                  Watch your new ideas take flight
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,                       Creativity is nice
How I wonder what you are!                   Need not have to sacrifice

Then the traveler in the dark                    Creativity in motion
Thanks you for your tiny spark;               Based on knowledge size, an ocean
He could not see which way to go,          Fleming, microbes inspired
If you did not twinkle so.                         Useful colors did transpire        
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,                      Creativity is nice
How I wonder what you are!                  Need not have to sacrifice

In the dark blue sky you keep,                The power for creation
While you thro' my window peep,           Fueled by imagination
And you never shut your eye,                 Deciding where to start
Till the sun is in the sky,                          Comes from body, mind or heart?
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,                     Creativity is nice
How I wonder what you are!                 Need not have to sacrifice

Discussion

It may show a little that this particular assignment was a bit challenging for me as I am not a wordsmith! Though I feel it carried an important lesson. We are, indeed, turning a knob on a song and are only limited by our own creativity. I feel enlightened to know that, yes, taking an idea and making it different simply isn't enough to constitute "being creative". But rather taking something and improving upon it to add a type of value that was previously non-existent.
I feel this is very applicable in my professional life. Take taping for instance. An ankle tape is an ankle tape is an ankle tape. Until, the athlete sustains re-injury while wearing the ankle tape. Then what? Tape tighter? Use a different pattern? (there are only a few "textbook" patterns). How about taking a different type of tape and adding this in to restrict range of motion, or better yet, assist with a particular motion.
I come across scenarios that could use this type of "creative improvement" on a near-daily basis. Though, I suppose I never looked at them from the perspective of creative problem-solving. I think looking through that lens will help me to better understand my problem-solving skills and to utilize them more carefully and accurately to ensure I am actually adding a "value" to a situation.

CEP 818: How Do I Love Thee: Embodied Thinking

As an athletic trainer I find myself empathizing quite often with my patients and athletes. I feel it is important to put yourself in their position to better understand their point of view. Having had my own experience with broken bones and rehabilitative therapy, it is a bit easier for me to call upon what feelings the patients/athletes may be experiencing than it may be for others. Emotional feelings surrounding injury certainly take some effort to understand, but what about the physical feelings of the injury? If I am treating a patient for a shoulder injury, should I not also try to understand the pain within the shoulder beyond the question “tell me how your shoulder is feeling today”? Will feeling this pain in my own shoulder better help me to understand the struggles they face with activities of daily living in addition to their emotional struggles with injury?

 

Below is a poem I found that I feel captures the essence of embodiment. While it doesn't necessarily relate directly to the rehab scenario I've described above, I believe that much can be learned by not setting myself apart from the patient.

The wise [girl] is one
who never sets [herself] apart
from other living things,
whether they have speech or not,
and in later years [she] strove long
to learn what can be learned,
in silence,
from the eyes of animals,
the flight of birds,
the great slow gestures of trees.

From A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin

Discussion

Embodied thinking to me is a feeling or sensation felt within the body without having touched or felt an actual object or been in a given situation. As an example given in Sparks of Genius, Helen Keller could feel the coldness and taste the sweetness of ice cream on her tongue and that is how she knew she wanted ice cream.

I chose this particular aspect of rehabilitative therapy to embody because it will help me be more in sync with my patients and their injuries. To understand how they are truly feeling, an excellent subjective history must be taken, which is done at every therapy appointment. Great listening skills are also a prerequisite, if you will, to embodied thinking in this scenario. How is the pain in their shoulder feeling that day? Is it: dull and achy, sharp, burning or tight? Not only will this help with embodiment of their pain, but it can also assist in assessing pathology of the pain.

I think bringing embodiment to this aspect of rehab will be beneficial to both the clinician and patient. Being better connected to the patient is going to bring about a greater care for them and their concerns which generates trust in the clinician’s abilities. Patients come when a part of them is weak or not fully functioning. This leads to a sense of vulnerability to a certain degree. I believe that recognizing this vulnerability and being able to really “feel” what is like to be in that position will help build a patient/clinician relationship and perhaps make me an even better clinician in and of itself.  If I can feel the tightness of a post-operative rotator cuff repair in my own shoulder, I can better relate to the frustrations of the patient and find better ways to ease their pains (physical and emotional)and anxieties.