Rough draft of final project, final project yet to come

Ultrasound physics and instrumentation is a course that is presently taught in a face-to-face environment, but could be effectively implemented to an online environment. Before being employed online, this course will more than likely being taught in a hybrid environment for a couple more years. I already have created practice quizzes in Angel for the students to review before an exam.

Ultrasound physics and instrumentation is a course required for students to continue on in their core classes for their program. There are three programs that require this course: general sonography, cardiovascular sonography, and vascular sonography. The students accepted into each of these programs are diverse and range from recent high school graduates to nontraditional students changing careers.

Upon completing ultrasound physics and instrumentation a student will be able to achieve three major objectives. First, a student will have been exposed to the physics of sound allowing them to have the background required to understand how an image is acquired and discern real reflections from artifacts. Second, a student will have learned the basic instrumentation of an ultrasound machine required to obtain an ultrasound image using real time and Doppler imaging techniques. Third, a student will have acquired the knowledge to successfully pass the ARDMS’s sonography principles and instrumentation exam.

There are many specific learning objectives that would need to be introduced during a semester to be able to achieve the goals of the three main learning objectives. I have chosen four learning objectives and four separate methods in which they could be assessed. I will provide a specific example and provide advantages and disadvantages for each method of assessment. I will briefly mention ways to ensure authenticity and avoid plagiarism.

Objective 1:
The students will demonstrate their understanding of pulsed wave, continuous wave, power, and color Doppler’s by comparing, contrasting, and providing examples of each on a blog.

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Cognitive (comprehension and analysis)

Advantages:
The students can easily set up an account and become rather proficient in using a blog. Blogs employ similar tool bars and options that are used in common word processing programs. Any student that is familiar with a word processing program could successfully navigate, edit, and post their content. The instructor and other students can be provided with a link and view the content with out any problems.

Disadvantages:
Although it was mentioned that a blog was a simple solution to use, there may be some that are not as technically savvy and may have a learning curve when it comes to using this method of assessment. Since we are using a web based product there is always the chance that the website could be down.

Examples:
Blogspot.com, blogger.com, and even learning management systems such as Angel offer an option for creating a blog.


Objective 2:
The students will illustrate and identify the components of an ultrasound transducer by drawing and naming the parts using Microsoft paint or another drawing tool.

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Cognitive (knowledge, comprehension, and application)

Advantages:
Paint and drawing products allow students the ability to easily construct an image and incorporate text to identify the individual components of that image. A student would even have the option to hand draw, label, and scan the image. The final image could be saved as a bmp or jpeg file that anybody can view. Once the file has been saved it can be available as an attachment in a discussion or email and\or embedded into a discussion forum, wiki, or blog.

Disadvantages:
A student that does not feel artistic may feel uncomfortable completing this project and would need to be assured they were not being assessed on their artistic ability. If a student decided to attempt to use a new product there is always time involved in learning the new software.

Examples:
Microsoft paint, Inkscape, or a scanned hand drawn picture


Objective 3:
The students will display knowledge of the intensity equation by correctly solving multiple questions on a quiz.

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Cognitive (application)

Advantages:
The student would be able to receive immediate feedback regarding how well they did on the quiz or exam. If the quiz or exam was generated in the learning management system the grades could automatically populate the gradebook. A student can be given flexibility as to when the assessment is completed.



Disadvantages:
If the exam was completed using third party software there is extra time required by the instructor to create the exam and create the student accounts. There is also the need to transfer the grades into the grading system being used by the instructor. A student never needs one more user name and password to remember.

Examples:
Exambuilder.com and learning management systems such as Angel, D2L, and Moodle


Objective 4:
The students will reveal their understanding of sonographic terms by correctly describing provided ultrasound images in a discussion forum.

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Cognitive (comprehension and application)

Advantages:
Once the student is familiar with the learning management system the discussion forum is rather simple to catch on to. This offers a straightforward method for the instructor and other students to provide feedback.

Disadvantages:
There is always the chance that the discussion could go astray and require moderation by the instructor. Not too many disadvantages to a discussion.


Authenticity of work and plagiarism are concerns for face-to-face and online courses. Regarding assignments and projects, I would not think that there should be an increased concern as far as preventing a student from completing their own work in either a face-to-face or online course. This is work that is to be completed on their own without observation whether they are in a classroom or online. When using a discussion forum to submit the initial response to a question or assignment it could be implemented that the student is unable to see any other responses until theirs has been submitted, if this is an option of the learning management software.

I would be more concerned about the opportunity to cheat during an exam, especially if a majority of the overall assessment is based on these scores. This could be easily avoided if it was required for the student to take the exam in the presence of a proctor. Instilling academic integrity and using honor codes could help avoid and deter some cheating. Other methods would depend on the abilities of the learning management system or third party testing product but could include facial recognition software, web cam pictures obtained periodically through the exam, etc.

Each of these objectives and methods of assessment took in to account the mid levels of Bloom’s taxonomy cognitive domain. Each of these methods of assessment is easily obtainable and manageable for an instructor teaching an online course. Engaging the students in a meaningful and relevant manner can be achieved by offering the variety that the previously methods of assessment can provide. Many of these methods of assessment should be able to get the students involved in a similar manner that is achievable in a face-to-face course.