Progress 10/15/02 to 10/14/04
Outputs
We have successfully completed all objectives for this grant on schedule and within budget. The multi-institutional version of the Diagnostic Pathfinder, formerly called the Problem List Generator, has been implemented successfully at five veterinary schools or colleges: Iowa State University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of California-Davis, Virginia Polytechnic and State University (Virginia Tech), and the University of Guelph. Results of our research made possible by USDA funds in addition to funding from the Department of Education's Learning Anytime/Anywhere Partnership indicate that using the Diagnostic Pathfinder to teach diagnostic reasoning in clinical pathology is extremely effective and provides significant gains in learning. A multi-year study involving 507 participants, showed that students who used the Diagnostic Pathfinder scored significantly better on a case-based final examination than those who did not. Similar empirical gains were
demonstrated at two other colleges of veterinary medicine. Additionally, qualitative data collected at all schools or colleges of veterinary medicine where the Diagnostic Pathfinder has been implemented show that faculty and students overwhelmingly indicate that the Diagnostic Pathfinder improves learning. For a demonstration movie of the Diagnostic Pathfinder, see http://www.birg.vetmed.iastate.edu/movie.html . The final objective of this grant was to identify the equipment requirements and operating costs for a multi-institutional version of the Diagnostic Pathfinder to become self-sustaining (apart from College support) for one year. These figures do not constitute the total costs for starting and operating a commercial enterprise. Website hosting service (MySQL database) 1,200.00 Full-time programming (salary/benefits) 103,000.00 Secretary/User support (salary/benefits) 42,000.00 Equipment (Computers, printers, etc) 7,000.00 Rent/Utilities/Phone 12,000.00 Total $165,200.00 Beyond
the objectives of this grant, we have also designed and implemented a report module for viewing diagnostic paths and tracking student performance. In addition, an initial version of a case editing module specific to the domain of clinical pathology has recently been completed and is undergoing summative evaluation. In the area of continuing education for private practitioners, a clinical pathology course that uses the Diagnostic Pathfinder will be offered by the Veterinary Information Network early this year. In closing, we deeply appreciate the opportunities that funds from the United States Department of Agriculture's Higher Education Challenge Grants Program have afforded us. All of our interactions with personnel before, during and after our transfer to the College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University were exceptionally helpful and timely. Thank you for partnering with us.
PRODUCTS: The first product of the Challenge grant was a Diagnostic Pathfinder-related educational needs assessment of the partnering colleges at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, University of California - Davis, and the University of Guelph and the Veterinary Information Network ( an organization that is the leading provider of online education in veterinary medicine). The collective analysis of these individual needs assessments identified significant differences among institutions. The second product of the Challenge grant was a multi-institutional version of the Diagnostic Pathfinder. The third and final product of the Challenge grant was to identify the equipment requirements and operating costs for a multi-institutional version of the Diagnostic Pathfinder to become self-sustaining.
OUTCOMES: A multi-year study involving 507 participants, showed that students who used the Diagnostic Pathfinder scored significantly better on a case-based final examination than those who did not. Similar empirical gains were demonstrated at two other colleges of veterinary medicine. Additionally, qualitative data collected at all schools or colleges of veterinary medicine where the Diagnostic Pathfinder has been implemented show that faculty and students overwhelmingly indicate that the Diagnostic Pathfinder improves learning. Faculty from multiple institutions shared resources and best practices for teaching clinical pathology.
DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: Danielson, J.A., Mills, E.M., Vermeer, P.J., Preast, V.A., Young, K.M., Christopher, M. George, J., Wood, D., Bender, H.S. Learning Benefits Tied to Specific Characteristics of the Diagnostic Pathfinder Software. Education Session of the National Meeting of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists. Orlando, Florida, November 16, 2004 Danielson, J.A., Fales-Williams, A.J., Myers, R.K., Sorden, S.D., Bender, H.S., and Mills, E.M. Student Response to a Case-Report Based Peer Assessment Assignment. Education Session of the National Meeting of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists. Orlando, Florida, November 16, 2004 Bender, H.S., Danielson, J. A., Mills, E.M., Vermeer, P.J., Preast, V.A. (2004). The Diagnostic Pathfinder: How it works and Year 4 evaluation data. FIPSE Project Directors National Meeting, Washington D.C., November 4, 2004 Danielson, J. A., Bender, H.S., Mills, E.M., Vermeer, P.J., Preast, V.A. (2004). Helping Learners Gain
Diagnostic Problem Solving Skills. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Educational Communications & Technology (AECT), Chicago, IL, October 21, 2004 JA Danielson, HS Bender, RM Mills and PJ Vermeer. Creating and Distributing a Comprehensive On-line Learning System for Diagnostic Reasoning: Preliminary Report 2003 FIPSE Project Directors National Meeting, Marriott Denver City Center, Denver, Colorado. Thursday, December 4, 2003 JA Danielson, HS Bender, RM Mills and PJ Vermeer. Using the Diagnostic Pathfinder Software to Learn Diagnostic Problem Solving. 2003 FIPSE Project Directors National Meeting, Marriott Denver City Center, Denver, Colorado. Wednesday, December 3, 2003 JA Danielson, HS Bender, RM Mills and PJ Vermeer. Making the Evaluation Process Work for Your Project:Advice for Project Directors. 2003 FIPSE Project Directors National Meeting, Marriott Denver City Center, Denver, Colorado. Wednesday, December 3, 2003 HS Bender, KM Young, MM Christopher, RD Wood,
JA Danielson and EM Mills. Implementation of the Diagnostic Pathfinder, an Internet-based Tool to Teach Clinical Pathology in Diverse Educational Settings. Education Session of the National Meeting of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists. November 18, 2003 in the D.C. Coleman Room at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, Banff Alberta Canada J. Danielson, H. Bender, P. Vermeer, E. Mills, V. Preast, K. Young, M. Christopher, J. George, P Pion. The Diagnostic Pathfinder, What it is, How it Works; Evaluation Results; Partnership and Pilot Implementation. Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, Fairmont Hotel and Conference Center, New Orleans, LA, December 6-10, 2002. J. Danielson, H. Bender, P. Vermeer, E. Mills, V. Preast, K. Young, M. Christopher, J. George, P Pion. The Diagnostic Pathfinder, What it is, How it Works; Evaluation Results; Partnership and Pilot Implementation. 30th Anniversary Project Directors Meeting. Fund for the Improvement of Higher
Education, US Department of Education, Washington Hilton and Towers, Washington DC November 22-24, 2002.
FUTURE INITIATIVES: Direction of our research We have received several requests from faculty in other agricultural and non-agricultural disciplines to use the Diagnostic Pathfinder in courses that teach diagnostic reasoning and problem solving skills. We have established an advisory board to help design a discipline-independent case authoring system that will make these collaborations possible. Faculty from several disciplines including the Departments of Agronomy and Plant Pathology, and the College of Business at Iowa State University have agreed to serve. Our goal is to achieve similar gains in learning for agriculture students using case scenarios for plant diseases and farm management issues. It is our belief that collaborations with other agricultural and non-agricultural disciplines will 1) benefit additional students and faculty, 2) lead to improved strategies for teaching and learning diagnostic reasoning and problem solving skills, and 3) expand our user-base to help ensure
the long-term financial sustainability of the Diagnostic Pathfinder.
Impacts
825 students in varying learning environments at five colleges of veterinary medicine are demonstrating improved gains in learning clinical pathology using the Diagnostic Pathfinder. The stage has been set for a discipline neutral Diagnostic Pathfinder.
Publications
- JA Danielson, HS Bender, PJ Vermeer, EM Mills, BB Lockee. A Tool for Helping Veterinary Students Learn Diagnostic Problem Solving Educational Technology Research and Development, 51(3), 63-81, 2003
- Proceedings HS Bender, KM Young, JW George, MM Christopher, JA Danielson, PJ Vermeer, EM Mills, RD Wood, PD Pion, VA Preast, CB Andreasen. Implementation of the Diagnostic Pathfinder, an Internet-Based Tool to Teach Clinical Pathology in Diverse Educational Settings. Conference Proceedings of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists and the American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology 346-359, 2003
- Abstracts J.A. Danielson, E.M. Mills, P.A. Vermeer, V.A. Preast, K.M. Young, M. Christopher, J. George, D. Wood, and H.S. Bender. Learning Benefits Tied to Specific Characteristics of the Diagnostic Pathfinder Software. Veterinary Pathology vol 41, no. 5, Abstract #65, 2004
- J. Danielson, H. Bender, P. Vermeer, E. Mills. Enhancing Problem Solving Skills for Clinical Pathology Students. Veterinary Pathology Abs 139 vol 39, no. 5, abstract #139, pg. 647, 2002.
- Posters Bender, H.S., Danielson, J. A., Mills, E.M., Vermeer, P.J., Preast, V.A. (2004). The Diagnostic Pathfinder: How it works and Year 4 evaluation data. FIPSE Project Directors National Meeting, Washington D.C., November 4, 2004
- JA Danielson, HS Bender, RM Mills and PJ Vermeer. Creating and Distributing a Comprehensive On-line Learning System for Diagnostic Reasoning: Preliminary Report2003 FIPSE Project Directors National Meeting, Marriott Denver City Center, Denver, Colorado. Thursday, December 4, 2003
- J. Danielson, H. Bender, P. Vermeer, E. Mills, V. Preast, K. Young, M. Christopher, J. George, P Pion. The Diagnostic Pathfinder, What it is, How it Works; Evaluation Results; Partnership and Pilot Implementation. Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, Fairmont Hotel and Conference Center, New Orleans, LA, December 6-10, 2002.
- J. Danielson, H. Bender, P. Vermeer, E. Mills, V. Preast, K. Young, M. Christopher, J. George, P Pion. The Diagnostic Pathfinder, What it is, How it Works; Evaluation Results; Partnership and Pilot Implementation. 30th Anniversary Project Directors Meeting. Fund for the Improvement of Higher Education, US Department of Education, Washington Hilton and Towers, Washington DC November 22-24, 2002.
- PUBLICATIONS Journal articles (Refereed) Danielson, J. A., Bender, H.S., Mills, E.M., Vermeer, P.J., Preast, V.A. (submitted for publication). Helping Learners Gain Diagnostic Problem Solving Skills: Specific Aspects of the Diagnostic Pathfinder Software Tied to Learning Outcomes. In Proceedings of Selected Research and Development Papers Presented at the National Convention of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology [AECT] (25th, Chicago, IL, October 19-23, 2004).
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