F.A.Q.

Q: WHAT IS GENIUS ACADEMY?

Genius Academy is an on-demand marketplace of immersive educational curriculum designed for specialized academic and professional training. Schools, organizations, and students can use these videos to enhance the learning experience for both in-person and online programs.

Q: WHAT IS THE PEDAGOGICAL EFFICACY OF THIS CONTENT?

The Genius Academy Mental Health Library was created by award-winning educators to change the future of mental health practice. Every piece of content in the Genius Academy Library is academically backed, thoughtfully produced, and vetted by experts for accuracy.

Based on our historic partnerships with top-tier universities and years of data studies pioneered by our VP of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Gary Wood, Phd. , we have proven results that our content works:

• Increased Learning and Retention
• Higher Performance In the Field
• Proven Accelerated Competency Development

Q: WHAT KINDS OF CURRICULUM EXPERIENCES DO YOU OFFER?

The Genius Academy Library has a rapidly expanding collection of high-quality, bite-sized curriculum multimedia experiences that are 5-7 minutes in length.

AVAILABLE NOW: Mental Health Education Series- Understanding the DSM 5: 150 videos (600 more to come by Fall 2022) that bring the DSM to life.

(SPRING / SUMMER 2022) Genius Academy Intervention Series take the scenarios and patients introduced in our DSM series and continues to follow their progress in therapy.  These interventions model Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Problem Solving Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, EMDR, Family Counseling, and more.

(SUMMER 2022) Exclusive case studies originally produced by Genius Produced for Master's programs, including Business, Public Administration, Cybersecurity Management, Emergency Management, Homeland Security Studies, Information Technology Management, Security Management, and Sports Studies, and more. 

[In Development] Future Content: We are working with our partners to license other content we've created for top graduate programs around the country in a variety of disciplines.Contact us to learn more about our partnerships, and how Genius can help you scale your program!

Q: HOW SHOULD I USE THE MENTAL HEALTH LIBRARY IN MY COURSE OR DEGREE PROGRAM?

Our films and immersive media experiences are intended for use as a supplemental learning activity and can be integrated seamlessly into any number of psychology, psychiatry, counseling, social work, and diagnostic course curriculum. 

Instructors may see value in structuring synchronous class discussions around the content, allowing each learner to reflect on what they observe and what it meant to them or they may find better use in creating a course project or knowledge-check activity that requires students to identify and report on symptoms and other diagnostic criteria present in the video. 

The content is authentic and valid to the diagnosis being portrayed with a focus on communicating the symptoms and details in a way that requires student-engagement and thought. When you license for your course, we will also provide a lesson guide to help understand the pedagogical implications of the multimedia experience, and how it can relate to your curriculum.

Based on learner outcomes, we help recommend pedagogy to utilize the content in our catalogue in a multitude of ways. Here are a few examples:

• THE CASE STUDY

  The traditional case study ‘paper’ that is often utilized in beginning courses is simply replaced with a genius Academy case study - which heightens experiential learning as students are observing rather than ‘being told’ much like they would in practice. 

• THE “CASELOAD.” 

  Onsite or online, individually or in groups, students are presented with characters for them to determine the appropriate course of action to take. Why is it one and not another?

• “ID THE SYMPTOMS.” 

  Observing and recognizing symptoms to establish a treatment plan.

• “THE ANCHOR.” 

  Use the video as a jumping off point for exploring issues -- prevalence, gender and cultural differences, treatments/therapies with demonstrated effectiveness. The video serves as a memorable and engaging anchor to organize additional learning around.

• “THE REWIND.” 

  In courses involved with teaching developmental theory, or theories of causation, students develop a history of the clients’ lives prior to the video. What significant influences or life events may have happened in clients lives in the years before we see the client on video? What bio-psycho-socio-cultural factors may have been involved?

• “THE TREATMENT PLAN.” 

  How can the character be helped? As a conversation starter or jumping off point of a lecture. What would students suggest as ways to help? What does professional literature suggest?

Q: HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN "CORRECT DIAGNOSIS” IN YOUR MENTAL HEALTH SERIES?

Genius Academy multimedia curriculum experiences have been crafted to fulfill the diagnostic criteria for the intended “Correct Diagnosis.” However, it may be that students, course instructors, and clinicians may at times disagree with the diagnosis.

This is similar to diagnostic disagreements between clinicians in real-life situations and results because assigning a diagnosis requires clinical judgement to determine if the criteria have been met. And that judgement may vary among clinicians. In real life, there would be the ability to ask further questions of the client, or possibly of others in the client’s life, in order to clarify details.

Disagreements over the most accurate diagnoses to assign makes wonderful teaching moments.

• Why do students see it differently?
• How do they justify their diagnosis over their colleagues’?
• What additional information would they like to confirm the diagnosis? 

Situations like these can lead to robust class discussions exploring the deeper nuances of a diagnosis.

Q: WHY SHOULD I USE THESE VIDEOS?

With remote learning quickly becoming the norm, as well as the engagement preferences of the new generation progress - we believe all learners deserve access to immersive education that allows them to apply theory to practice. Moreover, teachers deserve resources to bring teaching to life, not just a zoom call or a talking-head video lecture, or a PowerPoint - which, let's face it - doesn't foster learning. 

Students often struggle to engage with dense textbooks like the DSM. Even the best instructors have difficulty helping them connect with the material, especially in the online/hybrid learning environment.

Genius Academy produces and distributes high-quality, affordable, educational media to universities, professors and subject matter experts to help foster better learning outcomes.

Q: THIS CONTENT LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING I'D SEE ON TV. HOW DOES IT WORK?

Stories are powerful. They entertain, they educate, and they connect us to each other through our shared experiences, desires, and instincts. While technology rapidly changes our world and our lives, it fails to have as drastic an impact on our minds. The human brain continues to evolve, but the foundations of thought and emotion remain very much the same. 

When information is presented in the form of a narrative or a “story”, it is received by the brain in a far different way than when delivered in a traditional method. “Traditional” educational methods (i.e. lectures, slideshows, textbooks) have been shown to activate what scientists call the Broca's area and Wernicke's area, the parts of the brain where words are decoded into meaning. Unfortunately, after that processing is complete, the activity ceases. With storytelling those same language-processing areas are similarly engaged, but it is also processed through cognitive empathy, which allows us to relate to the information personally. 

The result of that extra processing is increased absorption, familiarity, and memory. Additional physiological reactions to storytelling also contribute to learning. When an audience or learner is thoroughly invested in a story, the brain releases chemicals, such as cortisol, dopamine, and oxytocin, which help with awareness, arousal, and ultimately action. 

Q: WHAT IF I WANT CUSTOM CONTENT?

If you are interested in working with us to create custom content for your program to be licensed out through the GA platform, please contact us. In a shared content production and licensing partnership;

Genius Produced would cover 50% of the production cost

Genius Academy would take on the content hosting and the majority of the co-marketing efforts

Proceeds from licensing would be split 50/50 between the school and Genius Academy

The school could use this new revenue stream to further develop content, build additional programs for students, provide more scholarships, and more. CONTACT US for details.