Sensory-Enhanced and Object-based Learning: Insights from the Minding Bodies Book Club - Week 3

Have you ever walked into a house, and the enticing aroma from the kitchen instantly brought back childhood memories or memories of a special event? Or perhaps you've passed someone whose cologne or perfume triggered fond memories of a loved one? I recently said goodbye to a dear cousin who had a unique way of preparing her coffee – it had to be warm, not hot, and the cream had to be just the perfect shade of caramel. Each time I make my coffee, her memory comes rushing back. It got me thinking, what if we could create learning experiences where students not only enjoy learning but also retain and recall information more vividly through sensory-enhanced experiences? This was the focus of our third book club session with Susan Hrach’s book Minding Bodies: How Physical Space, Sensation, and Movement Affect Learning. This chapter placed a significant emphasis on principle 5: “Knowledge is constructed through embodied experience.” encouraging us to explore the incredible potential of sensory-rich learning in education.

Our facilitator was Kristin Powers, the Curriculum Coordinator for our College of Dental Medicine. We are always happy to partner with the educational technology support team in the colleges. Kristin was a former high school teacher and her classroom enthusiasm shone bright as she led the session.

Did you miss our week 1 post? Dive in to catch up on how our book club is structured! And if you missed week 2 as well please read how we take it outside in exploring the power of nature on learning.

How Did We Enter?

 

We entered with Dr. Lorna Rono, a pharmacist and mindfulness enthusiast with a passion for helping others improve their health and well-being. Dr. Rono specializes in Pharmacy Operations Management, Community Pharmacy and Medication Management. Dr. Rono is a strong believer in the power of mindfulness to improve both physical and mental health. She has seen firsthand how mindfulness can help to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, and manage chronic pain. She is also passionate about educating others about the benefits of mindfulness. Lorna's mission is to help people live happier and healthier lives through mindfulness. During our session, Lorna guided us in a mindfulness body scan. We systematically moved attention through the body from feet to head. A body scan practice allows one to distinguish emotions by recognizing corresponding physiological sensations. Interestingly, the body scan exercise is mentioned in Chapter 4 as it relates to interoceptive awareness (IA). Hrach ties this to metacognition as interoceptive awareness is our ability to monitor and evaluate our own thinking and feelings in this case-internal sensations. P.111. Dr. Rono shared that she recommends the body scan activity as a good transition between topics, and she uses it in her class before she speaks about the mechanism of action of a drug as well as the therapeutic effects. As Dr. Rono did the body scan she allowed us to interrogate our senses for example, she asked us to notice any sensations we felt in our feet, such as warmth, coldness, tingling, or pressure.

How did we Engage?

Our engagement began with Kristin asking us if anything in the reading prompted us to adjust our instructional practices. For me it was not instructional per se, our team is moving in a new space without any windows I was thinking how we could engage our senses with paintings or photographs on the wall as well as I was thinking of a way to use smell in the office if no one is allergic. Shane Ryan, Assistant Dean for Curriculum in the College of Pharmacy shared he was planning to use podcasts or other strictly audio materials in pre-class work, and encourage students to listen to it while walking, working out or other movement-based/sensory enhanced activities. In the discussion we explored object-based learning and how this could be applied in health education. The University of Miami has a fantastic guide on Object-based learning (OBL) with guidelines on how to align OBL with learning outcomes. In a quick search I did not find many publications on how this type of learning has been used or could be used in health education, which is an opportunity for some research to fill this gap. While the literature on object-based learning in healthcare education remains limited, the potential benefits are unmistakable. 3-D models have the capacity to transform the way students across health disciplines understand complex constructs. Additionally, exploring technologies that have advanced healthcare can greatly enhance the educational experience. As highlighted in the University of Miami OBL guide, the critical first step is to determine the 'why' behind this approach. What are the core knowledge, skills, and attitudes we aim for our students to acquire? This foundational understanding helps us identify the most suitable objects for deep engagement. One of the outcomes of our book club is to integrate some of these practices in our teaching and I look forward to delving more into this.

How did we leave?

Our Instructional Design Manager Alex Walters led us out with a Pecha Kucha style presentation that focused on getting ready to learn. He shared strategies that encouraged faculty to give learners time to acclimate to the learning environment before starting class. These included mindfulness exercises, reflective journaling and providing buffer time for learners to prepare themselves to be fully present. And the word cloud speaks for itself as usual 😊

How are you leaving? We would love to hear your perspective!

What are your thoughts on using object-based learning in healthcare education? What are some challenges that may get in the way?

Don't forget to keep an eye out for reflection on our fourth session "Learn to Move, Move to Learn" , where we will be taking our book club to the MUSC Wellness Center.

Acknowledgement: Alex Walters contributed to the creation of this post.