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Instructional Objectives / Learning Outcomes
DMP 775, Veterinary Clinical Pathology
College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University
Instructional (educational) objectives (learning
outcomes) define what a student is expected to do to demonstrate
learning of facts, concepts, theories, and skills. The instructional
objectives in this website are for a 3-credit clinical pathology
course at Kansas State University and are used in the following
ways:
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They guide the instructor
during the development of methods and strategies that help
students acquire the knowledge and skills desired.
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They provide students with
the instructor's expectations.
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They serve as the source
of all examination questions; i.e., each examination question is
written to determine if a student has the knowledge or skills
specified in one or more objectives.
These objectives are designed
for a course that does not have a traditional laboratory section.
The basic training in clinical laboratory skills (primarily clinical
microscopy) at K-State occurs in a 1 credit course that is offered
the semester after this 3-credit course. Instructional objectives
for the laboratory course are not included in this document.
Table of Contents for
Instructional Objectives
(http://www.vet.ksu.edu/depts/dmp/personnel/faculty/pdf/toc.htm)
The objectives are provided in
Acrobat® pdf files. The largest
file (DMP 775 Objectives) contains the 362 objectives of the entire
course in 31-page document. Also, smaller files for each instruction
unit are also provided; the numbering of objectives corresponds to
the numbering in the course document.
The two major goals of the
course are for each student 1) to acquire the knowledge and skills
needed to interpret laboratory data correctly, and 2) to use
laboratory data to understand the pathogeneses of disorders of
domestic mammals. To achieve those goals, students must acquire a
vast amount of knowledge and develop a variety of clinical reasoning
skills. To guide course design, develop instructional strategies,
and develop student assessment methods, the instructional objectives
were written while the following questions were considered:
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What should the students
have learned in prerequisite courses; what should they already
know or be able to do?
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What do students need to
learn to achieve the course goals?
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What can be reasonably
accomplished within a 3-credit lecture/discussion course
involving 108 students?
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What knowledge or skills
will need to be acquired in subsequent courses?
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What do students need to
do to indicate that they can accomplish the objectives?
Each instructional
(educational) objective includes an action verb for what a student
is expected to do as a result of a learning activity. For objectives
that use the verbs identify or
recognize, a student’s ability to
achieve the objective is typically assessed by multiple choice,
true/false, or matching questions. For objectives that use the verbs
calculate,
classify, contrast, compare, define,
describe, explain, interpret, list, propose, recall,
or state, a student’s ability to
achieve the objective is typically assessed by short answer or short
essay questions. As described by B.S. Bloom and D.R. Krathwohl in
1956, the verbs are grouped into cognitive levels of knowledge,
comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. For
more information about instructional (educational) objectives using
Bloom’s taxonomy, we suggest the following sites.
Most of these objectives are
grouped by chapters and are provided to assist students and faculty
who are using Fundamentals of
Veterinary Clinical Pathology as a
learning resource. Except for the first two chapters, interpretation
of laboratory data is a major objective. Students prepare for the
assessment of those objectives by discussing a set of nearly 100
cases that are distributed in the course materials. Some chapter
groups contain extra credit objectives which serve as a source of
extra credit questions in examinations. Material included in extra
credit objectives is considered beyond the instructional components
of the 3-credit course.
The last four instructional
units contain objectives for material related to body fluid analyses
(peritoneal, pleural, synovial, cerebrospinal) and cytologic
examination of abnormal tissue. Learning resources for these units
include an outlined handout, a PowerPoint®
handout, fluid analysis cases, microscopic images, and references to
current cytology textbooks.
We hope that these objectives
will help veterinary students acquire the knowledge and skills
needed to interpret and understand the significance of common
clinical laboratory data.
Steven L. Stockham, DVM, MS;
Diplomate, ACVP
Professor, Kansas State University
Michael A. Scott, DVM, PhD;
Diplomate, ACVP
Assistant Professor, Michigan State University
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