A SOLO approach to Pulmonary Function

The course I will examine as an example is that of Pulmonary Function Testing. This is a mandatory course within the Respiratory Therapy program. It was also taught be me last year between September and November, 2018.

What are the intended learning outcomes of the course?

– Understand the importance of quality control (QC) in pulmonary function (PF) testing and apply QC on PF equipment in the lab

– Analyze and interpret PF test results as obstructive vs restrictive

– Understand the purpose and significance of the various PF tests and how these tests aid in the diagnosis of lung diseases

– Safely, and according to ATS criteria, perform the following pulmonary function tests: test 1,2,3,4 ,etc (edited for this post)

Do the learning outcomes reflect high-level cognitive skills or low-level skills (pay attention to the verbs)?

– Analyze, apply, and interpret reflect higher-level cognitive skills. Perform reflects lower-level. Understand is more difficult to easily categorize, as I would argue it is vague and could be interpreted different ways. Robert may interpret it as memorizing or describing, where as Susan may perceive it as explaining or reflecting. If I had to decide I would categorize understand as a lower-level skill.

How is student learning assessed in the course (essays, quizzes, journals, machine-gradable tests, portfolios)?

– Examinations (multiple choice and short descriptive answers)

In what ways are the intended learning outcomes and the assessments aligned or not?

– Alignment would very much depend on the type of questions being asked. If the majority of questions only challenged lower-level skills then there would be mis-alignment. For example if the teacher wanted students to apply but asked questions where one could easily answer if one memorized the key points.

Identify 2-3 items or assessments that are worded in such a way that they limit students to a unistructural or multistructural response at best and re-write them so that they require a relational response at worst and include the results in your post.

– I would focus on the understand learning outcomes and try to add greater clarity. For example:

Compare and contrast between high and low levels of quality control (QC) in pulmonary function (PF) testing, and apply QC on PF equipment in the lab.

Justify the purpose of various PF tests and apply each in the diagnosing of particular lung diseases.

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