Dissertation Defense Announcement

The College of Education announces the final dissertation defense of

Daniel Taylor

for the degree of Doctor of Education

June 20, 2016 at 1:00 pm in 320 Ball Hall

Major Advisor: Trey Martindale, EdD

UNDERSTANDING THE CRANIAL NERVES: EVALUATION OF A SELF-PACED ONLINE MODULE IN OPTOMETRIC EDUCATION

ABSTRACT:
Among the faculty of Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, Tennessee, it is perceived that optometry students often enter their clinical assignments with poor clinical judgment. To address this, Understanding the Cranial Nerves—an online-self paced instructional intervention of approximately two hours duration—was developed. In it, the content is presented in a clinical context, in order to foster development of clinical thinking and factual recall. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of this intervention upon first-year optometry students’ clinical thinking and content knowledge.