Rationale for the choice of the course:
The Veterinary Technology Program, one of eighty programs in the nation, was established in 1976, and it is considered one of the best in the United States. It is one of two programs located within veterinary schools in the United States. Our program is not in a separate department; instead, its courses are integrated into the three existing academic departments of the School of Veterinary Medicine. Curriculum innovation in our program is expected to impact other programs in the nation. During their training, students participate in patient management as part of the veterinary team, often performing technical procedures while veterinary students are analyzing case information for diagnostic and therapeutic decision making. Preparing veterinary technicians for the occupational needs of the veterinary profession requires grounding in basic skills in which the understanding of the structure (anatomy) and function is the foundation. It is important that students understand "what" makes the animal body and "how’ it functions and to understand concepts and processes. Our goal is to develop interactive programs that will aid in teaching integrated structure and function of the body of mammalian and avian species. This integration is expected to enhance the teaching and learning process of anatomy and physiology. It is expected also to aid students in applying the knowledge. Two courses will immediately be impacted: Anatomy for Veterinary Technicians (BMS 120) and Physiology for Veterinary Technicians (BMS 140). A third course (Physiology of Domestic Animals (BMS 300) may benefit from these efforts. The latter course is a service course taught to students from forestry, wildlife and fisheries. The first two courses are taught to veterinary technicians as part of a two- year curriculum. Our primary goal is to restructure the teaching of two separate courses in anatomy and physiology of mammals into one single course through the development of an interactive Web-based CD-ROM to impact student learning and retention and to also promote self-study through distance learning. This proposed course plays a pivotal role by being the first distance learning course these students will be exposed to in the VT-DLP curriculum.
Need to be addressed and learners to be served:
Students often find it difficult to integrate and apply information learned in anatomy and physiology courses into clinical applications. They are expected to acquire factual knowledge, laboratory skills and techniques, practice and apply information to problem-solving and think creatively. This necessitates development of technology-enhanced means of instruction that helps students maintain interest in basic sciences through a high level of interactivity case-based learning. The principle investigators currently teach core courses in anatomy and physiology in the Purdue Veterinary Technician Program, undergraduate and DVM programs. With the exception of a few computer-mediated demonstrations of functions of different body systems, these courses now use lecture format and wet labs. Currently, anatomy and physiology are taught separately with limited exercises to guide the student toward understanding the difference between the concepts of structure and function of organ systems. While involving wet labs, the existing courses use practically no interactive multimedia programs, drills and practice, and/or tutorials. This current system does not provide the instructor with enough opportunities to aid the student on an individual basis or to use techniques to facilitate effective retention of information. We believe that well-designed and well-tested interactive multimedia educational material that integrates the structure and function can significantly enhance the effectiveness of these courses for in-house and distance learning use. While instruction will be on our School’s intranet initially for in-house evaluation, Web-based CD-ROMs with most of the material needed and a built-in ability to contact Purdue when needed, will be the medium of delivery of instruction for outside use.
Instructional design plan
Generally speaking, the instruction received by the DL student has two overlapping phases: a didactic phase and a clinical mentorship phase. The didactic phase is an individual self-directed, guided design format that includes: content materials (CD-ROMs, Web-site references, and e-mail links to content experts where appropriate), a teaching engine (series of exercises, problems and challenges to guide the students through the content material), and an evaluative component (tests, graded workbook exercises etc). The didactic phase constitutes approximately 84% of the curriculum. The remaining 16% is the clinical mentorship phase. Veterinarians willing to participate as mentors would provide facilities and opportunities for students to practice motor skills (e.g. placement of catheters, taking radiograph exposures, monitoring anesthesia etc). Our interest in designing this combined course is focused on designing interactive instruction that motivates students to learn and that promotes retention and application of acquired information/knowledge. We plan to develop an integrated course that will help students understand the structure of the body, its functions, and become proficient at problem-solving. Our goal is to help students learn and understand the anatomical differences while simultaneously learning about the function of organs, systems, and integrated function of the whole body. The Web allows course material to be continuously updated. Course text, examples and exercises can be interactive in the sense of instantaneously illustrating biological phenomena and linking to other web-sites according to the interests of the student. Web technologies provide tools that can be used for integration of basic medical science courses with information that has clinical emphasis. It helps keep courses up-to-date. We are planning to use the web format to offer many more examples and high quality drawings, animation and video clips that explain concepts that are not easy to discuss using traditional means. It will provide us with a mechanism to collaborate with other instructors. We are planning to use this program with a system-oriented teaching mode, discovery-oriented teaching, and employ drills and practice to consolidate knowledge. The material will be presented as a complete system and the learning steps will ensue from the logical relationships within the system. This will be extremely useful in teaching structure and function of different organ systems in the body. For teaching the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, we will use the discovery-oriented teaching method where a student must discover the path of knowledge acquisition and form conclusions. For the drill and practice programs, we intend to present the exercises as follows: present the question, accept an answer, evaluate the answer and provide feedback in the form of "correct" or "try again". For both, a detailed explanation will be provided as part of the feedback. In the drill and practice and tutorials, we plan to use graphics, videodisplay, and text.
Desired impact on teaching and learning:
The simultaneous development of anatomy (structure) and physiology (function) instructional materials is expected to help in building bridges between the two disciplines and to help the learner better integrate their understanding of both structure and function. In the real world, scientific disciplines are interrelated. Therefore, the integration of structure and function instruction should enhance the learning process and aid students in applying the knowledge. Development of this interactive multimedia program is expected to help us extend our existing modes of teaching and motivate students to learn. This multimedia program that integrates structure and function with its tutorials and animation will help students learn at their own level and pace. It can motivate students to learn. It will help us assess differences between students’ learning styles, and it is expected to provide us with an insight into new ways for classroom organization and management such as communication with students, forms of assignments and grouping of students. By providing for individual learning needs and opportunities to observe students work, this program will help in improving both the effectiveness and quality of teaching and learning. Application assessment will be used to determine if the integrated course actually helps students gain skills in structure and function. The integrated structure and function course will be delivered using two technologies, Hybrid CD-ROM Delivery along with Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) publications on the Internet. We intend to design a practice environment with a core activity that is geared towards understanding a clinical case and the different procedures needed for making a diagnosis (X-ray, blood analysis, endoscopy, anesthesia). In this environment, the students will recognize the utility merits of understanding concepts rather than memorizing fact. This approach will help us cooperate to emphasize concepts and processes and free time that will allow us to observe students and guide the learning process.
The target areas for development shall be the following: (1)Lecture materials: Existing lecture texts will be converted to electronic format. Additional materials will be added in a hypertext format to allow for in-depth exploration and understanding of the material and to serve as a reference. (2) Glossary of terms: These will be developed for anatomy and for physiology. Audio pronunciations of important anatomical and physiological terms will be provided. (3) Visual aids: Gross and basic microscopic anatomy (histology) images and artist illustrations, compressed audio and video, and animation will be used to enhance understanding of anatomy and physiology of different organ systems in the body. (4) Using digitized video vignettes that will be created to introduce complex concepts and to help students visualize structure and function. (5) Development of tutorials that allow each student to learn the material covered at his/her own pace. (6) Creation of drill and practice questions (review questions) and frequently asked questions (FAQs) that reinforce understanding the material presented in each lesson. (7) Creation of a central question bank and electronic grader: This will allow generation of different quizzes and exams virtually on demand as instructors desire. Because of concerns regarding copyrights and the slow transfer of visual databases on the Web, a CD-ROM containing visual databases will be available at each distance learning site. However, these databases will be available on our server.
Use in the curriculum and in other existing Courses:
Our primary goal is to restructure the teaching of two separate courses in anatomy and physiology of mammals into one single course through the development of an interactive Web-based CD-ROM. We intend to demonstrate the feasibility of our approach and request approval from the Basic Medical Science Department and the Curriculum Committee to offer the course as one course. In the new course, we intend to use a few lectures for the purposes of organization, management, and discussion. Tutors will be available to help the students work in group initially and later, individually. Electronic communications with the instructors and tutors will be available to answer questions. Before the integrated course is completed and approved, we plan to use the material we will be developing in the course we are teaching in the Summer of 1999 to veterinary technicians (anatomy, BMS120; and physiology, BMS140). Other courses we provide to DVM students (physiology, BMS511, undergraduate (physiology, BMS300), and graduate students (physiology, BMS520) will also benefit from these efforts. Students in the new BS veterinary technician curriculum will benefit from integration of multimedia instruction in anatomy and physiology courses. Currently, 30 students per year are trained on campus in our 2-year technician program. Of the students enrolled in our other anatomy and physiology courses, approximately 160 per year are expected to benefit from these efforts.
Use as a distance learning course
Nationally, and within Indiana, there is a serious demand for distance learning programs for veterinary technicians. The School’s Distance Learning Program is modeled after the very successful on-campus veterinary technology program that begins with anatomy as a foundational course. When this integrated course is completed and logistics are worked out, it will be available to distance learners. CD-ROMs with most of the material needed and a built-in ability to contact Purdue when needed, will be the medium of delivery of instruction. As knowledge of the program spreads, a wider audience of students would be involved each year as more colleges use this program to supplement their own anatomy and physiology courses in veterinary technology, animal science, and biology. Use of the program in high school biology and vocational courses provides an additional market of several hundred students each year. The fact that veterinary corporations, community colleges and existing distance learning institutions are developing veterinary technician and veterinary assistant distance learning curricula, underscores the serious demand for these foundation courses.
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Evaluation during development and initial delivery of the course:
A series of evaluation instruments will serve to gather formative data during the development and immediately following initial delivery of the course, and summative data at the conclusion of the course. The formative data will facilitate content adaptation and enable us to identify and eliminate gaps in the instructional plan and/or provide aesthetic adjustments that will increase the motivation for use of the CD-ROM. The summative data will provide a framework for perfecting the final product. A Small Group Instructional Diagnosis (SGID) administered at the half-way point of the course will focus on learning and solicit students' perceptions of strengths and weaknesses of the course in addition to suggestions for improvements. At the end of the semester, faculty and students will complete a questionnaire consisting of both close-ended and open-ended items that will serve as feedback on the materials, activities and content of the course. Such feedback will be carefully analyzed so that revision can be made prior to further implementation.
Evaluation of students performance: Evaluation for in-house use will include the evaluation strategy identified in the evaluation during development and initial delivery of the course section; however, achievement tests and interviews will be added as well as a variety of assessment methods and clinical application. These methods will include: (1) written assessments (including applied laboratory exercises and case-based problem solving), (2) oral presentations, (3) progress evaluations by other faculty members, (4) student interviews and written evaluations (during their entire training period), (5) follow-up evaluations during clinical training, (6) self-evaluation by taking drills and practice (7) frequent feedback provided orally and through electronic mail, and (8) student self-evaluation of progress made during the course.
Evaluation of course: The criteria for evaluating this multimedia course will include user interface, quality of the program, and the pedagogical structure and function (level, subject, objectives, methods, and feedback. Assessment of the program will include concepts, processes, instructional strategies, and factual information. Other criteria that we will use in evaluating this course include: user interface, quality of the program, and its pedagogical structure and function (level, subject, objectives, methods, and feedback). We will assess how our program deals will concepts, processes and facts. In addition, physiology and anatomy modules on CD-ROM and on the World Wide Web, will be sent to anatomy and physiology instructors in selected institutions for evaluation using the following criteria: quality of the material being presented, organization, educational approach and reinforcement of the material presented, educational design, feedback and interactivity, ability of the program to motivate students to learn and delivery methodology (CD-ROM Vs Internet, whenever there is access).
Expected outcome and inter-institutional acceptance: Potential usefulness to groups internal and external the university
Two separate courses in anatomy and physiology of mammals will be combined into one single course through the development of an interactive Web-based CD-ROM to impact student learning and retention and to also promote self-study through distance learning. Use of the Web-based CD-ROM will: (a) solidify the interrelationship of the two disciplines so that it is evident to students, (b) allow for multiple instructional methods to replace the current lecture mode of instruction, (c) increase student interest in the subject material and thereby serve as a motivational tool, and (d) provide instructional outreach to similar institutions outside the Purdue University community. Interactive multimedia will help in integrating anatomy and physiology courses currently being taught separately into one course that will help students to recognize and be able to describe the anatomical structures and integrated function of the animal body. By providing tutorials and practice quizzes to supplement the classroom education and laboratory experiences, we expect that the students’ learning experience will be enriched. While instruction will be on the Internet initially, CD-ROMs with most of the material needed and built-in ability to contact Purdue when needed, will be the medium of delivery of instruction..
Several anatomy and physiology courses are taught to students in biology, animal science, medical, veterinary, and graduate programs on our campus. Distance learning programs for teaching an integrated anatomy and physiology of domesticated animals will be attractive to the eighty veterinary technician programs in the country. Purdue’s Veterinary Technology Program was established in 1976, and it is considered one of the best in the United States. It is one of two programs located within veterinary schools in the United States. These programs do not have the resources nor the personnel to teach anatomy and physiology course. In addition, DL courses will provide the opportunity for working employees of veterinary hospitals in Indiana and throughout the country to enroll in a degree-granting program that will improve their technical skills and allow them to become a registered veterinary technician. Additionally, employees of pharmaceutical companies may upgrade their skills, improve their employee status and provide a better service to their company.
To improve the technical abilities of students, areas of importance to veterinary technicians will be emphasized. These include, for example, sites to make intravenous injections and/or collect blood samples, common sites used to take a pulse, evaluation of the eyes and ears, passing of a nasogastric or endotracheal, and skeletal anatomy for radiographic positioning and evaluation of radiographs.
Timeline for development and implementation:
Jan. 1999-April, 1999: Combine the anatomy and physiology content and on-version of existing content to Web-based content.
May--August 15: Dissection, development of animation, acquiring and processing of images and video for integration into the web format.
August 15-Sept. 15 Development of cases and assessment of integration of structure and function, survey of how anatomy and physiology are taught nation-wide in veterinary technician programs and interest in testing our program. Identify site coordinators.
Sept. 15-Oct. 15 Design student evaluation forms and preparation for offering the course.
October-November Peer review workshop, followed by collecting critique from site coordinators after they return home.
November-December: Reevaluation of the program, modification, upgrading, and development for strategies to extend the course as a distance learning course.
Jan- 2000 Offer the course to veterinary technicians as a distance learning course.
Key personnel responsible for course development:
The Development Team includes from the Department of Basic Medical Sciences: A. Y. M. Nour, DVM, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Physiology (Project Director), Dr. Carlton H. Lamar, D.V.M., M.S., Ph.D, Associate Professor of Veterinary Anatomy (Project Co-Director), J. Leslie Booth, Computer Applications and Information Technology Specialist (Web developer and graphics designer), BMS Interactive Multimedia Development and Research Lab, Gordon L. Coppoc, DVM, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology. In Collaboration with Gloria Edwards, Ph.D., (Instructional designer and educational evaluator) Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, Curriculum and Instruction, School of Education.
Appendix :
Dr. Nour is Associate Professor of Physiology in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Nour received his DVM from the University of Khartoum in 1971 and M.S. and Ph.D. from Cornell University. He did his postdoctoral training on computer data management and analysis. He has twenty-seven years of experience in teaching in Sudan and the USA. He was Associate Professor and Head of the Animal Science Department of the University of Gezira, Sudan. Dr. Nour joined Purdue School of Veterinary Medicine in 1988 as Visiting Associate Professor of Physiology. He was appointed in 1994 as Director of International Programs In Veterinary Medicine and Assistant Professor of Physiology. Dr. Nour is now instructor of record for Physiology for Domestic Animals (BMS300), Physiology for Veterinary Technicians (BMS 140); DVM Systemic Mammalian Physiology I (BMS 511, and Graduate Physiology Course (BMS 520). Dr. Nour is the Coordinator of the United Nations Educational and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Biological Sciences Network that assists universities in upgrading biological sciences teaching through dynamic use of computer multimedia and networking technologies. His international collaboration with UNESCO and Universities overseas has resulted in development of multimedia programs to enhance biological sciences education. Dr. Nour has been active in the development of computer-assisted instruction and multimedia programs including the on-line physiology courses for veterinary technicians that will be launched on January 1999. Currently, he is co-investigator of Purdue-on-line project and a multimedia Distance Learning project for development of Web-based courses for teaching physiology to veterinary technicians. Dr. Nour is a member of SVM’s Information Services Advisory Board. He attended continuing education workshops on distance learning and HTML programming.
Dr. Lamar is an Associate Professor of Anatomy in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences. Dr. Lamar received his D.V.M. from Purdue University in 1966. He is licensed to practice veterinary medicine in Indiana and Illinois. From 1966-1968, he was involved with the private practice of veterinary medicine in Indiana. In 1971, he received a M.S. degree in veterinary anatomy from Purdue University, and in 1974, a Ph.D. in veterinary virology. Dr. Lamar has taught veterinary gross anatomy to first-year veterinary students for 22 years, and he has been the professor-in-charge of the large animal gross anatomy course. Dr. Lamar has developed multimedia presentations for gross anatomy and is now developing a web-based course for teaching anatomy to veterinary technicians.
Dr. Gloria Edwards is an Assistant Professor of Educational Technology in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction within the School of Education. She has over 5 years of higher education experience teaching instructional technology courses to pre-service and in-service teachers and providing them with the foundations for integrating technology into the curriculum. Her teaching responsibilities include Educational Applications of LOGO and also Microcomputer Applications in Educational and Training. Prior to obtaining her background in higher education, she spent over 14 years in business and industry in Information Systems, Human Resource Development, and Computer Applications Training. She holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with a specialty in Instructional Design from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests are focused in three related areas: (a) educational change in higher education that mandates the infusion of technology into the curriculum, (b) innovative faculty development for technology use, and (c) the theoretical aspects of instructional design in the development of interactive web pages which allow greater flexibility of access to information and increased user control over learning.
Dr. Gordon Coppoc’s training was in endocrine pharmacology with minors in physiology and biochemistry and oncology. During his early years at Purdue, he was an active participant in the planning and development of the Purdue University Cancer Center. His interests are in food safety and the safe administration of drugs to animals with impaired elimination. He developed research projects in pharmacokinetics with an emphasis on gentamicin.. Dr. Coppoc and Dr. Nour were invited to conduct two UNESCO sponsored workshops in Egypt (1994) and Qatar (1996) on interactive multimedia technologies in teaching biological and biomedical sciences. Dr. Nour, Lehman and Coppoc also conducted a workshop on new technologies and methodologies for teaching biological sciences (March 3-6, United Arab Emirates and Qatar). Dr. Coppoc and Dr. Nour have visited Kenya, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa, as a part of a two-man team where he gave fourteen presentations on applications of multimedia in education. In recent years, in addition to administrative and teaching responsibilities, his scholarly activities have been primarily dedicated to international programs, distance education, and the development of computer applications for veterinary medicine and education. Currently, Dr. Coppoc is co-investigator of Purdue-on-line project and Distance Learning project for development of Web-based courses for veterinary technicians. He developed web-based material for teaching pharmacology courses.
