Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice Hosts Early Immersion Activities
NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice (FCE&SCJ) recently hosted a week-long series of Early Immersion Activities designed to engage students in authentic learning and promote meaningful conversations about substance abuse and sexual assault in a college environment, developmental disabilities, recreational therapy, and teaching and learning with virtual reality. The college had an amazing turnout with over 60 students participating in one of four Early Immersion Activities:
Red Flags: A Sociodrama Intervention was facilitated by Grace Telesco, Ph.D., and the NSU Sociodrama Club. Students were immersed in a scenario demonstrating the dynamics and progression of dating relationship violence and the relationship between substance abuse and sexual assault in a college environment. Students engaged in real-life scenarios and discussed relevant, effective interventions. This program, utilizing a dramatic modality, raised awareness around the topics of dating relationship violence, sexual assault, and substance abuse in a college environment. The live interaction between the audience and the characters illustrated the red flags and warning signs, risk factors, and effective resolutions and interventions that college students can employ.
Recreational Therapy was facilitated by Tim Scala, Psy.D., and Therese Pokryfk, Students were introduced to the field of recreational therapy to develop an understanding of how recreational therapy techniques are being utilized in multiple populations. Students actively participated in the process and had an opportunity to use various recreational therapy adaptive equipment.
Special Olympics Strong Minds Screening was facilitated in collaboration by Maribel Del Rio-Roberts, Psy.D., and Misha Pane of the Special Olympics. Students traveled to the Special Olympics Three Hearts ADT center in Hollywood to participate in a Strong Minds screening. At Three Hearts ADT, students were trained to teach coping skills to developmentally disabled clients by going through a 30-minute orientation and then rotating through stations that included: check-in, strong breathing, stress and you, strong messages, strong supporting, strong stretching, and check-out.
The Future of Learning: An Immersive Virtual Reality Experience was facilitated by Lucas Williams, Director of the Fischler Academy. Students were immersed into the virtual reality environment. Students were stimulated in topics about virtual reality and real-world simulations and had an opportunity to practice and learn in the virtual reality environment by rotating through three different VR stations in the Fischler Academy Active Learning.
