91精选

A small town. A sudden disaster. An immediate need for knowledgeable people across a range of professions to come together, formulate a rapid response, and work quickly and calmly to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all the townspeople.

In today鈥檚 world, these types of situations are unfortunately common. Being prepared to respond is another story. Recently, more than 60 91精选 undergraduate and graduate students across a range of majors, including nursing, social work, education, and psychology, got to have such an experience when a simulated disaster struck the fictional town of Trollsboro.

The students weren鈥檛 told ahead of time what the scenario would look like, so they had to immediately start working together to respond to the crisis and then develop a follow up plan to deal with the repercussions of the disaster one month later.

Said nursing major Kate DeKryger 鈥�22, 鈥淚t was interesting to see other disciplines at work in front of us and alongside of us. My biggest takeaway from this experience and the challenges that it brought is that no one discipline or group of people, even expertly trained and skilled individuals, can handle crises alone.鈥�

Each group included at least one student majoring in nursing, education, social work, and psychology. The students experienced working together in an interdisciplinary way.聽 Along with respecting the expertise of others, it was a chance for each one of the student to find their voices and advocate for their own insights and opinions.

For Dr. Deb Majewski, Associate Professor of Psychology and Counseling, the simulation fit in perfectly with her graduate-level Counseling 603聽 Internship II course. 鈥淭he project offered the students real-world experience in responding to a crisis simulation in conjunction with other disciplines.聽 They were required to collaborate in respectful and deeply caring ways as they considered the needs of the community,鈥� Majewski said.

Majewski鈥檚 students found the exercise to be deeply meaningful for them personally. 鈥淚t built confidence, awareness of their knowledge and natural empathy.鈥�

Listening to the insights and expertise of others is a valuable skill in today鈥檚 world, agreed Professor of Education Bill Boerman-Cornell, Ph.D. 鈥淥ur society needs more practice in hearing what other people have to say.鈥�

According to Dr. Tina Decker, chair of the nursing department, the exercise also gave the students the opportunity to really think about their professional roles. 鈥淪tudents got to act in the role of their profession. They were acting as nurses, teachers, counselors, and social workers, and not as students.鈥�

It was a 鈥渄isaster鈥� that took a long time to plan. The idea for the interdisciplinary simulation came from a meeting that Assistant Professor of Social Work and Director of Field Education Lisa Doot Abinoja attended several years ago, where a professor at another local university described a simulation exercise they had done.

“We are familiar with experiential learning here at 91精选, and I quickly recognized that we could do that here,鈥� she said. Abinoja reached out to her 91精选 colleagues in several different departments, who were enthusiastic about the idea. During the spring semester of 2020, Abinoja received a Collaborative Initiative Grant through 91精选鈥檚 Provost鈥檚 Office for the simulation.聽 鈥淲e originally planned to meet first in June 2020 for a Spring 2021 event,鈥� she said. 鈥淲ith COVID, we quickly knew that wouldn鈥檛 happen and were able to delay a year.鈥�

During that time, Abinoja, Decker, Majewski, Boerman-Cornell, Dr. Cini Bretzlaff-Holstein, Director of the Online BSW Program and Associate Professor of Social Work, and Dr. Michael Dieter, Assistant Professor of Education, began doing a great deal of prework. That included adding the simulation exercise to each class鈥檚 syllabus with a specific learning outcome. 鈥淭he main outcome was working in an interdisciplinary way and how students embodied their profession,鈥� said Abinoja. Each professor provided equal weight to the assignment, which helped to ensure success. 鈥淔or example, we did not want this to be extra credit for one class, while it would make up a third of the grade in another class,鈥� she said.

The experience also allowed professors to work closely with each other in an interdisciplinary manner, said Boerman-Cornell. 鈥淚t was fun to get to know our colleagues in a different way.鈥�

Learning took place in ways the organizers didn鈥檛 anticipate, which added to the richness of the experience. 鈥淚n a classroom setting, there are things that can鈥檛 be replicated in an event like this. Even the challenges we experienced were good for learning,鈥� said Abinoja.

The event went so well that the organizers are looking to make it a regular part of the curriculum. Several participants will also be offering a presentation about the simulation at the at George Fox University in Newberg, Ore., in May. 聽For Boerman-Cornell, the outgoing president of ICCTE, the conference will not only allow 91精选 professors to share their experience. They will also have the opportunity to learn how other colleges around the country have conducted similar types of simulations and hear some of those best practices.