Technologies that support teaching, learning, and research continue to evolve. Assessing and testing emerging academic technologies is the first step to implementing ways of teaching that might improve the instructional process and help teachers communicate in more creative, collaborative, effective ways.

The CVM Center for Academic Technologies (CAT) evaluates and helps faculty members incorporate technology into veterinary medicine teaching. Training teachers and collecting data to see what works and what doesn’t is the goal of CAT, which was formally part of the College’s Information Technology Center.

“We’re bringing technology into the program in ways that help teachers and students achieve learning goals,” says Dr. Robert Malinowski, CAT director. “We evaluate and assess emerging technologies so we can avoid implementing technology just for technology’s sake.”

It would be hard to find a better person for the job than Malinowski, who earned his DVM from MSU in 2001 and a master’s degree in digital media art and technology, focusing on using media for education, in 2003. This fall, he completed his PhD in education psychology and education technology.

CAT initiatives include:

• Lecture Recording. Nearly 95 percent of all lectures are now recorded using a software called Camtasia. “Students love to recap and go back and clarify information,” Malinowski says. “When I was in school, I would have killed for recorded lectures.”
• Lecture tools—a Classroom response system. Professors can create interactive modules throughout a lecture, weaving in questions and answers every 10 minutes or so. The web-based program, called LectureTools, provides real-time answers and can be accessed anywhere.
  “Students really like being able to answer questions and see what everyone else has answered while remaining anonymous,” says Associate Professor Ioana Sonea. “It keeps them alert and I can see if they understand something. It’s more interactive.”
• ExamSoft. This testing system allows tests to be administered and graded securely on a laptop. Test scores can be posted within a day, along with the answer key for students to review. The program allows questions to be analyzed so that instructors can review the wording of the question or instruction on the topic.
• Data tracking throughout the curriculum is a central focus for CAT, Malinowski says. “I’d like to see ExamSoft in every class.”

CAT can help track skill building, both individually and in aggregate, in core competency areas as students move through the program. This would help the College spot (in a systemized way) areas where students regularly stumble and help make adjustments across the curriculum.

“We’re going through the entire curriculum and examining what we teach and how many times we teach it,” Malinowski says. “We might be delivering the same information 14 times when students really need 5.”

There might also be information not adequately addressed, and assessments will identify this and allow better use of time. “The College is committed to training students to be thinkers and communicators. We want to be developing lifelong learners.”