Twitter in the Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging Classroom: Examination Outcomes and Student Views

Abstract

Radiographic lesion identification and differential diagnosis list generation can be difficult for veterinary students; thus, a novel means of distributing cases for study could improve students’ engagement and learning. The goal of this study was to determine whether using Twitter as an adjunct means of studying diagnostic imaging would improve student outcomes on the final exam for a radiology course. A secondary goal was to determine students’ preferred means of accessing additional cases for study. Twitter was used in a third-year veterinary radiology course to provide additional optional radiographic cases that were relevant to the topics covered in the course. At the end of the semester, students completed a survey to report their prior and current use of Twitter and to give preferences as to further distribution of optional cases. Mean final examination scores were compared between students who used Twitter in their studies and those who did not. No significant difference was found between the mean final examination score for each group (22.2; p = .98). Only 3% of respondents ( n = 2/79) preferred Twitter as a means of receiving additional radiographic cases; Moodle (the Web platform for classwork used at this institution) and Facebook were the most preferred platforms for further cases, receiving 41% ( n = 32/79) and 23% ( n = 18/79) of votes, respectively. Educational use of Twitter did not improve student examination performance in diagnostic imaging, and other media platforms may be more beneficial than Twitter for encouraging student use of additional resources.

Use of smartphone messaging applications to increase diagnostic efficiency in veterinary diagnostic laboratories

“…Therefore, to reduce the number of inconclusive diagnoses resulting from failures in forwarding materials to the VDLs, it is necessary to implement measures to minimize these problems. The use of social media for teaching and improving the speed of diagnoses in Veterinary Medicine (Bernardo et al 2013, Tenhaven et al 2013, Mekaru & Brownstein 2014, Haustein et al 2015, Kedrowicz et al 2016, Englar 2017, Ober 2019, Saadeh et al 2021, Sellers et al 2021, Trittmacher et al 2021, Woodard et al 2021) and telemedicine (Farahani & Pantanowitz 2015, Bertram & Klopfleisch 2017 grows exponentially. The use of smartphones and media during visits to rural properties and in the guidance to veterinarians on the procedures necessary for sending samples to the VDLs, respectively, showed the potential to stimulate improvements in animal health (Karimuribo et al 2016, Miltenburg et al 2021.…”

Case‐based intensive veterinary radiology clerkship improves students’ radiographic interpretation skills and overall course satisfaction scores

“…A recent competency-guided review of an equine veterinary program at the Colorado State University identified that up to 32.4% of the students considered the radiology competencies were covered in "not enough detail". 5 Research in teaching of veterinary radiology is scarce and most studies focus on aspects of formal lecturing such as the impact of early implementation of radiology in the veterinary curriculum, 6,7 or the use of class enhancements, 8,9 recorded pre-classroom assignments, 10,11 or self-directed learning methods, 7,12 with variable results on improving exam scores. Overall, there appears to be a trend toward better outcomes with the implementation of interventions that increase student participation or provide additional support material.…”

Distance Education in Veterinary Medicine: History, Current Situation, and Future Perspectives (a Systematic Review)

“…Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have been the most social media used in VM(TENHAVEN et al, 2013;WHITING;KINNISON;MOSSOP, 2016;OBER, 2019;SCALLA VULCANI et al, 2020;DO NASCIMENTO SENA et al, 2021).Most of the modern virtual learning environments allow the simulation of different events and real processes, giving a more realistic and coherent learning experience(ESPITIA et al, 2019;EVANS et al, 2019). Although DE methods cannot completely replace the classes and practical training in VM, it offers several advantages.…”