The University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions’ PHHP Days is an annual celebration of research from the undergraduate to postdoctoral level, featuring oral and poster presentations from more than 200 students. Within the two-day event, the Pillar Talks series serves as a platform for faculty to share their research, insights, discoveries and innovations across the college’s mission areas of education, research, service and clinical work. These brief, TED Talk-style talks are an opportunity for every member of the college to come together, learn from each other and showcase the remarkable scholarship advancing public health and health science.
Ahead of PHHP Days 2026, taking place April 15 and 16, speakers will share sneak peeks of their talks and what they hope listeners will learn.
Michael Moorhouse, Ph.D., is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy
What is your primary focus in PHHP and why does it interest you?
I primarily am an instructor within the college’s undergraduate program. This particular area interests me because good teaching doesn’t just help students learn what to think or know, but rather how to think whether that be critically, ethically, creatively or humanistically.
What is the theme of your pillar talk?
The talk explores how education has shifted toward rewarding completion rather than comprehension, and the unintended consequences of having too much technology in the classroom.
Why do you want to share this topic?
Because learning and critical thinking are not innate but skills that need to be honed and worked on. Unfortunately, we live in a world where reductive misinformation and disinformation plays on our emotions and is subsequently accepted as fact when the reality is that things are much more complex and nuanced. We’re raising professional students rather than professional learners. I believe educators have an obligation to redesign learning spaces that support critical thinking.
What do you hope the audience takes away from your talk?
I hope the audience leaves with a renewed appreciation for focused, technology‑free instruction and a recognition that deep learning requires attention, cognitive effort and perhaps discomfort — none of which can occur when devices offer escapism from the classroom and/or are doing the thinking for us.