Re: [HAPS-L] ADA Testing

[Ken Saladin <ksaladin@xxxxxxxxxx>]

> We are reviewing
> our lab testing procedures and I was hoping to get some feedback from
> others about their testing procedures for anatomy labs.
> Kerrie L. Hoar, M.S.

For regular (non-ADA) students, my lab exam procedure is this: When they
first enter the room, I have 15 stations set up with 2 questions at each
station. A station may have an anatomy model with markers on it (I use
1/4" adhesive colored "signal dots"), a dissected
specimen, a bone, a microscope with a tissue specimen, etc. They have 1
minute to answer those two questions, and then rotate to the next
station.  

After the last station, they sit in one place and I show six projected
images -- generally either histology images or cadaver images from the
Anatomy & Physiology Revealed CD set (McGraw-Hill). I transfer images
into a PowerPoint slide show and put the image and the question on the
slide, and  I can use PowerPoint to insert colored arrows or
asterisks on the structure I want them to identify. Not having a cadaver
lab, this is as close as I can get to testing on the human cadaver, and
it is also incentive for them to spend time studying their APR CDs at
home and looking at real bodies instead of just idealized plastic
models.

So this totals 36 questions (so far). After they've made the rounds, they
get 5 minutes to roam the room at will for a second look at anything they
wish. I have 15-20 students in the room and watch them closely. To avoid
temptations to glance at each other's papers, I allow no more than 1
student at a time at any one station. Also during that time, they get to
X-out any 6 questions of their choice. I grade them on only the 30 that
they choose to have scored.

After this visual recognition part of the test (about 45 min), they get a
break in the hall while I clear away the models etc. and set up the next
part of the test. They return to the room, sit at one place, and answer
short answer and multiple choice anatomy questions based on the textbook
reading. Here they also get to X-out questions (i.e., answer their choice
of any 20 of the 25 short-answer questions and any 15 of the 20 multiple
choice questions). 

I grade the visual part while they're taking the textbook part, and
usually have it finished by the time the fastest students are turning in
the textbook part. I get the last of the textbook exams graded within
about half an hour after the last student has finished. Typically half a
dozen students just wait in the hall for their grades, and others e-mail
for them and receive them by the end of the afternoon. The grades go into
a spreadsheet that also instantaneously updates their course average
taking all of their varied work into account, so when they get their exam
score they also get an update on their standing in the course --
important especially when a drop deadline is approaching and some of them
have to make a decision whether or not to drop the course. I find in
student evaluations that they really appreciate getting their grades so
quickly and always knowing where they stand in the course -- as opposed
to some profs who keep students waiting a week or two to find out how
they scored on a test.

As for students with learning disabilities, perhaps surprisingly, in my
30 years of teaching A&P, I've had only one such certified. She
received a little extra time on the lab exams and was usually finished no
more than half an hour after the last of the regular students. I didn't
time her on the station rotations, but she seldom took much more than a
minute at each station anyway. For the lecture exams, at first I let her
take those at the campus testing center, which is set up to administer
exams to ADA students, but I found out that they just put the student in
a separate room by herself and exercise no visual supervision or control
over access to any possible cheat sheets etc., so I started having the
student take her exams by appointment in my office under my own
supervision (allowing extra time but no open notes).

Below are a few examples of my typical lab exam questions.

Ken Saladin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Typical visual recognition questions (mixed from multiple
exams)
Two questions per station, usually both on the same model or specimen; 1
minute to answer both.
Name the valve with the red dot. [plastic heart model]
Name the muscular wall with the yellow dot. [same model, marker on
interventricular septum]
Name the stringy structures overlying the wooden probe. [dissected pig
heart, probe marking tendinous cords]
Name the artery in the forearm with the yellow dot. [plastic model of
blood vessels]
Name the U-shaped tube marked with two yellow dots. [plastic model of
nephron, markers on nephron loop]
Name the coiled tube marked with a blue dot. [same model, blue dot on
distal conv. tubule]
Name the organ marked with pin 5. [dissected pig]
Name the foramen with the wooden probe in it. [skull]
Name the bony process marked with a green dot. [femur]
Name the leukocyte at the 2:00 position in this field of view.
[microscopic setup, blood film]
The cells seen in this field of view are called ___.  [microscopic
setup, adipose tissue]
Identify the tissue seen in this microscope. [microscopic setup, cardiac
muscle]
The heavy dark line at the tip of the pointer. [same setup, pointer on
intercalated disc]
Name the vessel marked with a red arrow. [PowerPoint slide]
Name the muscle highlighted in purple. [PowerPoint slide]
Name the leukocyte type seen in both of these photos. [PowerPoint
slide]

Typical textbook questions (lab final in A&P II)
   2.    When blood plasma is filtered by
the glomerulus, the filtrate collects in a double-walled structure called
the ___. 
   3.    Name any one organ that possesses a
tunica albuginea.
   4.    The ___, which contains the ductus
deferens and pampiniform plexus, passes from the scrotum into the pelvic
cavity.
23.    Most of the bulk of a tooth is made of a yellowish
tissue called ___.
24.    The visceral layer of the glomerular capsule is
made of unusual cells called ___.
28.    A microscopic air sac of the lung, and a tooth
socket, are both called ___.
29.    The mucous membrane (mucosa) of the uterus is
called the ___. 
1.     The three folds of mucosa on the lateral wall
of the nasal cavity are called 
            
a)    nares.
           
b)    fossae.
            
c)    vibrissae.
           
d)    choanae.
            
e)    conchae.
 2.     The point on the inferior surface of the
liver where the blood vessels enter and hepatic ducts exit is called
its
            
a)    porta hepatis.
           
b)    hepatic antrum.
            
c)    cecum.
           
d)    haustra.
            
e)    corpus hepaticus.
5.     A fatty membrane suspended from the stomach
and covering the abdom- inal viscera like an apron is the
            
a)    peritoneum.
           
b)    alimentary mucosa.
            
c)    mesentery.
           
d)    taeniae coli.
            
e)    greater omentum.
 6.     The scrotum and/or testes exhibit all of
the following except for a/an
            
a)    tunica albuginea.
           
b)    infundibulum.
            
c)    perineal raphe.
           
d)    dartos.
            
e)    tunica vaginalis.