Erin Rumpke presented at ASMCUE 2022 a ten-minute recorded session, “Virtual Culture Reading Exercises for MLS Students.” Rumpke is an Associate Processor and Program Director of the Medical Laboratory Science Program at the University of Cincinnati. Rumpke has over fifteen years of experience! Using Articulate 360 software, Rumpke developed a series of virtual culture reading exercises for MLS clinical year students. This course is included in the Canvas Learning Management System and is the last course taken by these students. Students spend time working with cultures and learning about growth requirements, metabolism, genetics, major classifications… taxonomy, morphology, and mixed cultures! Rumpke set out to designing an experience that applies the clinical knowledge that students obtained in the program, moving from pure to mixed cultures. Rumpke mentioned that in the hospital they use Miller’s pyramid of clinical assessment with knows at the bottom, knows how, shows how, does. Rumpke displayed a slide with a pyramid and the following descriptions (bottom to top of pyramid):
- Knows. Knowledge: Obtains knowledge to fulfill the task from lecture.
- Knows How. Competence: Understands how to apply the lecture knowledge to complete a task.
- Shows How. Performance: Demonstrates competence by performing the task in a simulated environment.
- Does. Action: Performs task independently in the student laboratory or clinical setting.
Rumpke created Articulate 360 videos and information in a way that students are able to make decisions. These decisions included evaluating specimens per acceptability criteria, choosing additional testing, and reporting. In the example that Rumpke shared, students are provided with plate growth, microscopy, and biochemical data. Outcomes Rumpke shared were both positive and a couple of negative findings. Most were positive and included building student confidence and identifying errors prior to the student lab, improved productivity during the lab, more lab time and thus more examples seen in lab, avoided biosafety concerns through virtual work. The only negatives they found were the time required to design these activities, minor browser glitches, and LMS integration trouble. I have been curious about Articulate 360 and use cases such as this one. This session provided some ideas! While I may not be ready to use Articulate 360, I will consider Rumpke’s approach in the context of using the virtual labs to build confidence and skills.
