Karen JacobsClinical Professor of Occupational Therapy,
Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Services
"I’ve been teaching at BU for 25 years – and every year is new and exciting. One
way to keep it that way is to take on new challenges, which I’ve recently done with distance learning. I didn’t know
much about distance learning when I agreed to teach my first online course – and figuring out how to bring my classroom
style to such a different environment really was a challenge! In the classroom I can engage students with my
enthusiasm and humor. I often start class off with a description of a funny situation I’ve been in or something new
I’ve tried and that will start a lively discussion. But I had to really think about how to do that online. One way
I’ve found is to just to be in regular communication: if I can’t tell the story in person, I can tell it in an e-mail
or in an online chat. Technology helps, too. I use a webcam so students can more directly see that I’m excited about
the course and the material we’re covering. Because I’m teaching some of the same content in both the on-campus and
online courses, I find I bring new insights from each model to the other."
"As I challenge myself by trying new things and taking risks, I’m also role modeling for my
students. I show them in a very personal way that it’s okay to be outside your comfort zone and that it’s okay to not
always feel like you’re in control. I also show them that you can find challenges even in something you think you’ve
already mastered, just by bringing a new perspective. For example, I recently returned to teaching a very basic course
on analysis and adaptation of occupation – a course I taught in my first years at BU and was also a course assistant to
when a graduate student. Returning to that fundamental material helped me to think about how to be creative and
visionary both for that course and for the more advanced courses I still teach."
Professor Jacobs is the founding editor of the interdisciplinary, international journal Work: A Journal of
Prevention, Assessment, and Rehabilitation. She has published and presented widely on the topics of ergonomics and
marketing and is the author of Ergonomics for Therapists; Occupational Therapy: Work-Related Programs and Assessments
and coeditor of Quick Reference Dictionary for Occupational Therapy; Work Hardening: States of the Art; and Functions
of a Manager in Occupational Therapy. Dr. Jacobs is the past-president and vice-president of the American Occupational
Therapy Association (AOTA). Dr. Jacobs’ research and scholarly pursuits examine the interface between the environment
and human capabilities. In particular, she has examined the individual factors and environmental demands associated
with increased risk of functional limitations among populations of university and middle school aged students,
particularly in computing and backpack use.
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