#1 - To address identified needs or opportunities at the university and solve them by leveraging emerging technology and innovative solutions.

STING partners with subject matter experts across the university, often faculty, who have identified relevant instructional challenges in their courses. The final product assists faculty as well as students in the process of learning by addressing pedagogical challenges through novel applications that enhance the curriculum. Put simply, STING projects create pedagogical solutions that meet specific learning challenges that 'out-of-the-box' or pre-packaged solutions do not. 

#2 - To provide Guild Members with opportunities to learn, create, and grow.

The expectation from our Guild Members upon starting their positions in STING isn't to necessarily know the tools and technology as often what we are using is emerging and rapidly changing. However, there is expectation to learn these new and novel tools. This provides students with opportunities to utilize project-based and challenge-based learning design processes to build an innovative portfolio of projects and be a valuable contributor to creating emerging technology solutions for Grand Valley State University. 

Occupational Therapy: Patient Movement VR Simulation

CHALLENGE - Often, when moving patients, students are focused on body positioning and hand placement and forget about other aspects of the process including things like locking a wheelchair and raising foot pedals. Correctly moving a patient is an important skillset for occupational therapy students, and the consequences for performing these movements incorrectly can be severe.

SOLUTION - To address the support of occupational therapy students and in partnership with faculty member, Scott Truskowski OTRL PhD, STING created a virtual reality patient movement checklist and simulator  which can used with Meta Quest 2 headsets. In this simulation, students complete a checklist of locking the left and right wheel brake of a wheelchair, pulling up the foot pedals, removing the arms, placing a gait belt on the patient, then moving the patent forward in the wheelchair to ready the patient for moving. As students do each step of the checklist correctly, the simulation indicates each task as completed. 

VR Courtroom: Bringing Law to Life

CHALLENGE - There are several jobs, roles, and spaces in a courtroom, however, when it comes to trials, proceedings, etc. legal studies students are often focused on the details of cases and less so on the details of a courtroom's function. This can make those cases and moments in trial confusing and intimidating for students. Ultimately, without adequate preparation, students feel ill-prepared in those moments. 

SOLUTION - In partnership with Courtney Topić, J.D., Assistant Professor in the Legal Studies Program, STING collaborated on creating a courtroom tour using 360 images and interactive elements to prompt learning as well as quiz the students in their knowledge. The 360 courtroom experience provides students with the opportunity to familiarize themselves with key courtroom elements.