Teaching diagnostic decision making: student evaluation of a diagnosis unit

The aim of the study was to report on chiropractic students' response to a changed learning format and on how the students fared in their final examination.

A 13-week year-4 diagnosis unit that used a structured self-study guide, a prescribed text, classroom clinical simulations, WebCT-based learning, and self-assessment tasks is described. After 4 weeks of study, a questionnaire was used to assess the chiropractic students' interim evaluation of the various learning experiences. The ability of students to meet unit objectives was assessed in a summative examination.

Most students found the learning experiences acceptable and believed the learning options provided would enable them to meet the unit aims. This belief was confirmed both on formative and summative student assessment.

Diverse classroom teaching/learning opportunities combined with self-learning guides provide a viable alternative to more traditional teaching formats for introducing chiropractic students to differential diagnosis.