HOT TOPIC: Level Up: Integrating Game-Based Learning Into OT Education
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2026
10:15 AM – 10:45 AM
Course Description
Occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant education demands pedagogical approaches that cultivate clinical reasoning, professional identity, and occupation-centered practice. Yet, traditional lecture-based formats often struggle to sustain the active engagement these skills require. Game-based learning (GBL) offers a compelling alternative, and growing evidence in health professions education suggests that well-designed game mechanics can enhance knowledge retention, critical thinking, and collaborative problem-solving.
This Hot Topic presentation cuts through the intimidation factor: you do not need a budget, a software license, or a game design background to harness the power of GBL. Drawing on contemporary evidence and direct classroom experience, the presenter will introduce a focused set of simple, low-tech game mechanics and demonstrate how each maps onto instructional objectives across OT and OTA curricula.
Attendees will explore a practical framework for selecting game mechanics to match specific instructional outcomes, whether teaching occupation-based assessment, group dynamics, or ethical reasoning. Brief exemplars applicable across both program levels will illustrate how even a 20-minute in-class activity structured around game principles can shift learner engagement and deepen application of content.
Participants will leave with a concise toolkit and a clear entry point for integrating game-based approaches into their own courses, grounded in the belief that play is not the opposite of learning — it is one of its most powerful expressions.
Speakers
Karla Reese, DHSc, OTR is a Clinical Associate Professor and Doctoral Capstone Coordinator in the Department of Occupational Therapy at Cleveland State University. She has been with the department since 2020, previously serving as Academic Fieldwork Coordinator, and teaches in the areas of occupational performance, clinical supervision, and professional practice. Her clinical background spans skilled nursing, school-based practice, and pediatric settings, including work at HCR Manor Care, Lake County Educational Service Center, and Achievement Centers for Children, where she developed a hippotherapy program and social skills group. Dr. Reese’s scholarship and advocacy focus on sexual activity and intimacy as an occupation, occupational justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and cultural responsiveness in OT practice, topics she has presented on nationally and internationally, including at the World Federation of Occupational Therapists Congress and the World Occupational Science Conference.
Dr. Reese is a dedicated leader and mentor within the profession. She currently serves as the Inaugural Director of DEIJAB Initiatives on the Ohio Occupational Therapy Association Board of Trustees, having previously served as OOTA Vice President and Public Relations Co-Chair, and she chairs the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee in the CSU Department of OT. She is co-creator and co-host of the OT After Dark podcast and has contributed to publications including Sexual and Intimacy: An Occupational Therapy Approach (AOTA Press) and Adult Physical Conditions. Her work has been recognized with numerous honors, including the OOTA Passion Award, Continuing Education Award, Model of Practice in Education (2025), the OOTA Award of Merit (2022), and Ohio Magazine’s Outstanding Achievement in Teaching (2019). Dr. Reese holds a Doctor of Health Sciences from Radford University, a Master of Health Sciences from Cleveland State University, and a Post-baccalaureate Certificate in Occupational Therapy from Cleveland State University.
Content Level
Introductory: This level assumes the audience has little or no information regarding the content area. This level assumes the audience has little or no information regarding the content area.
Practice Areas
Fieldwork and Academics/Education