NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY

Project Based Inquiry

A Physical Therapy Video Case Study
Nancy Smith, Kristen Votta

IntroductionThe way our students learn and applying their new knowledge is rapidly changing.
The dynamic of the 21 century world is challenging our students in new and unique
ways. It is the job of the classroom educator to prepare our students the best we
can to meet these challenges with success.
Lesson RationaleThe 21 students used to help implement the lesson were highly motivated and
respective. These graduate students realize the importance of taking their
education seriously and using as a time to harvest all of the necessary theories,
skills and applications necessary for them to succeed as physical therapists in the
real world. As they learn and grow these students need to challenge themselves to
work harder and to diversify themselves from the other candidates that will
undoubtly be competing for the same jobs upon graduation. One way Nancy, a
physical therapist and graduate school teacher at Winston Salem State University
(WSSU), is helping them achieve this is through successful teaching. Mirsha and
Koehler, assert that in teacher education, the successful teacher is one who can
draw from content, pedagogy and technology, forming a technological pedagogical
content knowledge( TPACK) framework- and that it is this knowledge that is of most
worth (Spires, 2). In attempt to be successful teachers, and successfully instill in
our students the knowledge necessary for them to succeed as physical therapist,
Nancy and I structured our Project Based Inquiry around the TPACK model. Nancy,
who herself is a physical therapist, as well as an educator has a vast amount of
content knowledge on electrical stimulation, or E-Stim. She has conducted the
procedure countless times to manage patients pain and to demonstrate the
procedure to her students. While Kristen does not have nearly the amount of

content knowledge that Nancy does in this area, she was able to understand the
basic underlying principles for the procedure from reading and working with Nancy.
Prior to implementing our project Nancys students had worked with Tens units, the
device for conducting electrical stimulation, as well as learned about electrical
stimulation. Therefore with this content in mind we decided that the compelling
question for this assignment would be, How does interaction with a video based
case with intentional errors impact the ability for physical therapy students to
identify procedural errors when using electrical stimulation? Prior to this case study
example the students in Nancy class had read hundreds of case studies, however;
this would be the first time a case study would be presented to them in this manner.
As researchers we were interested in what impact watching the case play out on
video would have for the students. Would it make the mistakes more obvious?
Would they be better able to visualize themselves interacting with patients in the
future? We were eager to answer and address all these ideas.
Rather than dictate what we wanted the students to learn and to take away
from the case study experience, we decided to present the students with some
information and allow them to think critically, ask questions and essentially learn
through their own active construction. Constructivism is a theory of education that
supports this pedagogy. As researchers and educators we firmly believed that, The
aim of education should be to teach us how to think rather than what to thinkrather to improve our minds, so as to make us think for ourselves than to load our
memory with the thoughts of other men (John Dewey). Strictly adhering this to
constructivist mindset we did little to prepare the students for the case they were
able to view. We wanted them to react individually and authentically to the
information presented to them. To further their thinking and learning about the case

after viewing it the students were divided into small groups and given talking
points to spark conversation and construct more learning. During the course of the
students conversation Nancy and Kristen were listening intently to see, not if the
students could repeat back facts or simply point out errors, rather they were
interested in seeing if the students were using Blooms high level skills of analyzing
and synthesizing the information presented to them.
In addition to the Flip Video camera used to film the case study that featured
Kristen and Nancy, additional technology was used to make the lesson a success.
After filming the case study at Kristens house in Raleigh, Nancy downloaded and
edited the video using I-Movie software. The editing allowed us to add words and
additional transitions that enhanced the overall qualities of the video. During the
implementation of the lesson the video was displayed on a large pull-down projector
using Blackboard 9.0 learning management system on Nancy computer. Blackboard,
which can also be accessed by all of the students in the class, provides a forum for
the students to view classroom notes, videos and converse with one another on a
wiki space created by Nancy. During the implementation of the PBI project Nancy
and I found many of the students referencing past notes from their I-pads as well as
re-watching the video to gather more information.
In terms of assessment during this project we wanted to ensure that they
students were continuously over the course of the two hour learning block. We to
believe that, assessment is not evaluation; it is infused throughout the learning
and teaching experience rather limited to final outcomes( Kuhlthau & Caspari,
111). In order to determine if the students were learning while the lesson was taking
place Nancy and Kristen videotaped the students while they shared their thoughts
in small groups and focus groups. After reviewing this provided great insight into

what the students were able to take away from the learning experience, and how
implementation of the case study affected their learning outcomes. Interestingly
during our extra credit focus group conference students were very open about
sharing their feedback about the learning experience. They were able to identify
what worked and what needed improvement in the lesson. The conference gave
Nancy and I the ability to see, what learning has taken place and where students
need guidance, advice and instruction( Kuhlthau & Caspari, 112). We believe this is
what assessment is at its core.
Lesson ImplementationThe implementation took place at WSSU University on November 1 st 2010.
The class, which consisted of 21 adult, graduate school students, had just finished
a unit on E-Stim. Electrical stimulation or E-Stim is a small electronic device that
sends currents through the skin to target muscles. There are a wide variety of uses
for E-Stim, all of which the students were well versed in. For the purpose of this
project Nancy and I had met previously to film a short case study. In essence Nancy
was the physical therapist and I was the patient. The background is that I was
having pain in my knee due to a past gymnastics injury. In the video Nancy makes
purposeful mistakes, ranging from improper dress to using the incorrect settings on
the tens unit, the device used for E-stim. The video was recorded, edited and
presented to the students on the day of implementation as a case study. The
students were collectively viewed the video on a large screen projector in their
classroom. Once the video was complete Nancy and I divided the students into
small teams and assigned each team a different set of follow up questions. The
questions addressed a wide range of issues and implications ranging from, what
errors did they note in the video to what the implications might have been for future

treatment with the patient. The students were given adequate time to review the
case study again if necessary on their I-pads, and reference pervious notes on the
topic. Once the questions were answered the class reconvened in a large group, and
discussed their findings.
Lastly, as an extra credit option , the students were divided into two focus
groups. Each focus group was videotaped by Nancy or Kristen as they reflected on
and answered specific interview questions about how the experience affected them
as learners. The goal of the focus group was to gather data on how well the
students responded to the case study and how it was facilitated. Once complete
the students were asked to answer three follow up questions and post it to their
class Wiki.
Please note all questions, focus group discussion points and follow up questions can
be found in the appendix for further review.
Challenges and SuccessesNancy and Kristen worked very well together over the course of the project. It
became clear from the beginning that Nancys classroom in WSSU was the ideal
choice for implantation of the PBI project. The room is very tech savvy; all of the
students have i-pads, Nancy uses a classroom wiki, and there was a large projection
screen, ideal for viewing the case study video. Most of the planning and
correspondence leading up to the implementation took place over FaceTime. During
these meetings we discussed what the goals were of the project, how the students
would be assessed, what the potential pitfalls might be. Nancy and Kristen met in
person twice, first in Raleigh where the filming of the video took place and secondly
at WSSU for the implementation of the project.

Originally we both had concerns over the students willingness to participate

actively in the post video discussion. Our plan was to offer extra credit as an
incentive. As it turns out though the class was very receptive to viewing the case
study in a video format, and they were eager to give feedback. The graduate
students, who are one year into their three year program, have read hundreds of
case studies similar to this one in their studies. However, they had never viewed a
case study as a video before. They enjoyed seeing the patient and therapist
interaction, and commented that it was nice to see what a finished product might
really look like. Many students accurately noted that it would have been beneficial
for Nancy and I to have create a follow up case study video, demonstrating only
correct procedure.
CollaborationNancy and Kristen have different and unique areas of strength and weakness.
For example we are both very interested in technology implantation and use in the
classroom (TPAK), however Nancy has had a decent amount of exposure and
experience integrating in her classroom whereas Kristen has not. Nancy, who
teaches at the graduate level has very different goals and objectives then Kristen
does at the elementary level. However, even with all of these differences the two
were able to seamlessly work together to create a new and interesting product.
Through FaceTime, Nancy and Kristen, who live over two hours apart from each
other, were able to create a compelling question, develop a new and unique
investigation and determine how they would implement it. It terms of division of
work, Nancy and Kristen were easily able to break apart tasks, making sure that
each contributed equally to the finished product.

Conclusion-