Development and use of an interactive computerized dog model to evaluate cranial nerve knowledge in veterinary students

Abstract

In veterinary medicine, the cognitive skills necessary to interpret neurological disorders from text-based case descriptions may not translate into the diagnostic capabilities required for clinical neurological patients. As live animals exhibiting certain specific neurological disorders are infrequent during a student's exposure to clinics, students may graduate without the experience necessary to make an accurate diagnosis in the field. To address this, we have developed a computerized simulated dog head that can exhibit cranial nerve dysfunctions and respond to specific testing procedures in a clinically accurate manner. To evaluate whether this type of model could add value to traditional student assessments, we created a multiple-choice quiz system with three types of questions: standard text-based cases, videos of an expert performing an examination of the simulated dog, and an interactive version requiring the student to perform an appropriate examination of the simulated dog to uncover the lesion localization. In an experiment conducted with 97 freshman veterinary students who had recently been taught cranial nerve anatomy and function, we found that examination performance decreased with the need for interactivity compared to memorization of fact, while satisfaction increased. Students were less likely to identify the correct disorder when they had to conduct the examination of the virtual dog themselves, revealing an inadequacy in traditional neuroanatomical teaching. However, students overwhelmingly supported the use of interactive question for assessment. Interestingly, performance on text-based questions did not correlate significantly with interactive or video questions. The results have implications for veterinary teaching and assessment within the classroom and in clinical environments.