open 2013: best practices for assistive technology design classes and their products
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Department of Veterans Affairs
Best Practices for Team-Based Assistive Technology Design Courses
Department of Veterans Affairs
Mary Goldberg, MEd
Jon Pearlman, PhD
Education & Outreach Coordinator
Assistant Professor, RST, SHRS
Department of Rehabilitation Science and TechnologySchool of Health and Rehabilitation SciencesHuman Engineering Research Laboratories
Department of Veterans Affairs
Outline
• Background & Introduction• Literature review• Methods• Results • Best Practice Recommendations
Department of Veterans Affairs
Background: Departmental Structure
• Rehabilitation Science & Technology
• Human Engineering Research Laboratories
• Veterans Affairs• QoLT• Education & Outreach
Programs
Department of Veterans Affairs
Background: Product Development Training• TIPeD program funded by NCIIA
• Augment ASPIRE & QoLT REU programs
• Led to development of design ecosystem & course series
Department of Veterans Affairs
Background: Design Curricula
Fall
TIPeD-C: Fundamentals of
Rehab Design and Fabrication
FabLab
Spring
TIPeD-C: Rehab Design Project
FabLab
RET
Summer
TIPeD-P: [facilitated in collaboration with
the NSF REU program] and with business and law
students
RET
ELeVATE
Department of Veterans Affairs
Background: Motivation AT
• Assistive technology & participation in society
• Inappropriate designs• Design shortcomings• Improve independence and safety of
users• 3rd party payers• Academic institutions & technology
transfer
Department of Veterans Affairs
Background: Product Development
• Design & fabrication facilities• Commercialized 5 products• 3 patents awarded; 9 pending• Research & user-driven innovations • Business partners• Multidisciplinary faculty, students, & staff
Department of Veterans Affairs
Goals
1. Literature Review
2. Case Study on HRS 2706/2718– Course Evaluation
3. Generate Best Practice Recommendations
Department of Veterans Affairs
Literature Review: Themes
• Projects• Process• Recommendations for Improving the
Process
Department of Veterans Affairs
Literature Review: Projects• Range from low-tech to high-tech24, 26, 21
• Low-tech often focus on international or low-cost products to broaden access
• Primary (ADL) to secondary (IADL) to “for fun” (recreational) products1, 26
• Client-based (individual & group)
• Promote collaborations while benefitting local use3
• Persons with disabilities as clients– Demonstrate inequities & lack of resources4
– Consider additional needs & universal design18
Department of Veterans Affairs
Literature Review: Process• Students uncomfortable with lack of
instruction4
• Products meeting users’ needs as correct solution
• Profession-specific language1 – Process-oriented vs. solution-oriented
– Engagement in process vs. didactic learning
Ulrich & Eppinger, 2011
Department of Veterans Affairs
Literature ReviewProcess: Design with Service Provision in Mind23
• Evaluation of client needs and skills for assistive technology
• Acquisition of assistive technologies
• Selection, design, repair, and fabrication of assistive technology systems
• Coordination of services with other therapies
• Training of both individuals with disabilities and those working with them to use the technology effectively
Department of Veterans Affairs
Case Study of HRS 2706/2718• Pre/post survey
– Mixed methods including 7 short answer & 2 Likert series related to design, rehabilitation, and career perceptions & skills
• MBTI– Used to identify team roles
• Mid-Point interviews with all students• Ethnographic observations by co-instructor
in-person and online
Department of Veterans Affairs
Course Overview: Learning Objectives• Be able to
– Execute needs assessment for a client;
– Develop product concepts;
– Convert product concepts and specifications into a prototype;
– Perform concept refinement & selection to system & detail design (emphasizing participatory action design through all phases);
– Develop a prototyping and testing plan;
– Fabricate and test the prototype;
– Interact with a client in a professional capacity as rehabilitation engineer
– Investigate IP considerations and methods of technology transfer.
Department of Veterans Affairs
Course Overview: Project
• Assistive feeding device for a woman with a progressive disorder
Department of Veterans Affairs
Quantitative Results (n=7)• Significant increase (p=0.03, M=.571, SD=.535) in students’
identification and comfort with his/her individual team role
• Nearly significant increase pre/post class– In self-assessment on confidence in various skills (p=0.07, M=.258 ,
SD=.31)
– In knowledge of commercially available assistive technology (p=0.07, M=.429, SD=.787)
– In confidence in design skills (p=0.07, M=.429 , SD=.535)
• Nearly significant Relationship between gender and scores (p=.07, M=.144, SD=.929)
Department of Veterans Affairs
Example Qualitative Results• Before: “I think I am learning a lot of things, that will allow
me to succeed in the field. Perhaps I will need to have more real world experience with clients, and also learn more technical things, (Electronics, Programing, design software) to feel more confident in applying technology to rehabilitation.”
• After: “I feel I am part of the community. It gives me satisfaction that my designs could someday help a lot of individuals in ways that a consumer device rarely does. I am committed to the field and would like to see it grow further and increase the involvement of end users in the design process.”
Department of Veterans Affairs
Recommendations: Lit reviewRecommendation Why?
Use multidisciplinary teamsHelps train system integration,
increased responsibility, teamwork and competition
Add projects to database Helps with commercialization and avoids repeated solutions
Disseminate Training Modules Supports methods improvement
Apply for funding and publish results Supports commercialization
Share information related to tech-transfer and liability
Ensures that all parties are aware of legal status of invention
Department of Veterans Affairs
Recommendations: ClassRecommendation Why?
Identify client through reliable clinical partner
Allows for transparency and trust with client, full understanding of
their clinical needs
Allow for transparency between instructors, client, and team(s)
Conveys expectations related to frequency of communication and
liability with products
Use a process-oriented vs. solution-oriented product
development model
Ensures students execute due diligence and complete necessary
steps
Use a project management software to facilitate and archive
communication and outputsOrganize weekly objectives
Facilitate client interaction frequently through in-person,
phone, and online communication
More communication results in better design
Department of Veterans Affairs
Recommendations: Class
Recommendation Why?
Seek to develop professional role confidence to inspire students’
commitment to engineering/rehab
Provide opportunities that are not common in didactic curricula
Publish student designs on repositories
Motivates students and enables creativity, disseminates design
Integrate design competitions and commercialization plans into
deliverables
Interests potential investors and teaches students about
commercialization
Incorporate formal and informal education opportunities
Increases’ students confidence to tackle design problems
Department of Veterans Affairs
Acknowledgements & Questions• Financial support
– University of Pittsburgh
– Human Engineering Research Laboratories
– NCIIA
– NSF QOLT ERC
• Our client• HRS 2706/2718 students