Development and Use of an Interactive Computerized Dog Model to Evaluate Cranial Nerve Knowledge in Veterinary...

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Neurology
• Medical Education Technology

Background:

• Veterinary students often lack clinical experience with rare neurological disorders.
• Traditional teaching methods may not adequately prepare students for diagnosing neurological conditions in live animals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a computerized simulated dog head for teaching and assessing veterinary neurology.
• To compare student performance and satisfaction across different assessment formats (text, video, interactive).

Main Methods:

• Developed a simulated dog head exhibiting cranial nerve dysfunctions.
• Created a quiz system with text-based cases, expert video demonstrations, and interactive simulations.
• Assessed 97 freshman veterinary students on cranial nerve anatomy and function.

Main Results:

• Student performance decreased with increased interactivity in assessments.
• Student satisfaction significantly increased with interactive assessments.
• Performance on text-based questions did not correlate with interactive or video-based questions.

Conclusions:

• Interactive simulations may enhance student satisfaction but not necessarily diagnostic performance in veterinary neurology.
• Current neuroanatomical teaching may be insufficient for developing practical diagnostic skills.
• New assessment methods are needed to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and clinical application in veterinary medicine.