Authors (including presenting author) :
Cheung TH(1)(2), Tsoi TSC(1), Leung NYW(1), WO LY(2)
Affiliation :
(1)NCSTC, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital
(2)Department of Occupational Therapy, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital
Introduction :
Mastering splint fabrication skills in occupational therapy requires not only proficiency in using tools and coordinating body movements but also strong visual observation skills, including planning, inspection, and evaluation. In recent years, there has been a focus on developing and promoting teaching methods for traditional handicrafts. However, these studies often overlook the effective transmission of visual observation experience in procedural knowledge from experts to novices, impeding their ability to learn and master the skills.
Objectives :
To evaluate teaching quality on splint fabrication using eye tracking technology comparing with traditional method by the observation via the expert demonstration.
Methodology :
To address this gap, this study proposes the use of Eye Movement Modelling Examples (EMME) in splint fabrication teaching. A total of 3 experienced occupational therapists and 11 newly recruited occupational therapists from PYNEH with normal or corrected-to-normal vision were invited to join the study. Participants would fabricate a left wrist resting splint after the learning from both conventional in-service teaching method of PYNEH and splint fabrication video involving EMME at two months apart. A commercially available Tobii® Pro Glasses 3 50Hz wearable wireless eye tracker with recorder and SD card attached was utilized for data collection. Pre-training and post-training questionnaires using the Likert scale, and semi-structured interview were used to assess the attitude of participants during each method of learning splint fabrication. By analyzing eye-tracking metrics and visualizing expert visual patterns, the study constructs an EMME to demonstrate the expert model to novices, enhancing their ability to recognize and make appropriate judgements based on visual observations.
Result & Outcome :
Comprehensive evaluation was conducted to assess the effectiveness of this novel instructional method in helping novices perceive visual knowledge from experts and learn splint fabrication skills. The participants generally welcomed to the new methods with feedback to enhance the learning experience. The EMME video effectively promoted learners' performance in wrist resting splint fabrication, particularly in terms of novice performance in mechanical advantages and increased accuracy of inspection areas.
This study successfully utilized eye-tracking technology to uncover potential visual patterns of experts in splint fabrication and validate the role of EMME in promoting the teaching and inheritance of splint fabrication skills. These findings provide a new approach to preserving and passing on the splint fabrication skills in occupational therapy
