Peer Review

Cardiac Auscultation 3.0

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Reviewed:: Aug 5, 2011 by Health Sciences

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: The learning resource is a downloadable application which covers 16 cardiac abnormalities that can be auscultated on a simulated patient. This is accomplished by placing a simulated stethoscope on designated areas of the chest. The features include images, audio sounds, immediate feedback by placing the stethoscope on the chest, and a short overview of the abnormality. There is no actual glossary; however, the areas of the heart sounds are identified visually at the beginning of the material. The general learning goal is to determine how the specific designated heart abnormalities sound and where they are located. The authors are Christopher McGowan, Chris Braster, and Anthony Frisby. There is no costs for using the module. Key words:cardiac abnormalities, cardiac sounds, and heart sounds.
Type of Material:: The type of material is drill and Practice that uses simulation and animation.
Recommended Uses:: The module could be used for medical, nursing, and other prelicensure healthcare students as a post learning experience after initial learning of heart sounds. This exercise would be most valuable after a physical assessment class and an anatomy and physiology course.
Technical Requirements:: Flash. Windows 2000/XP or newer.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: The learning goals are to be able to identify the specific 16 cardiac abnormalities and to accurately place the stethoscope on the identified areas.
Target Student Population:: Undergraduate, pre-licensure students in a health care program, such as nursing.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Basic anatomy & physiology classes; preliminary practice in auscultating routine heart sounds

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: Valid, accurate, reliable material; realistic; valid according to other resources; current and up-to-date; educationally significant because it presents a repetitive method of mastering heart sounds; this is core information for any medical or nursing student; more advanced than basic heart sounds; covers material that is difficult to learn; consistent throughout the material. The module is extremely easy to navigate and is automatically downloaded onto the computer for use at any time. It is clearly stated that the cardiac sounds are artificial so that they can be exaggerated to bring out qualities of each of the types of heart sounds.
Concerns:: There is no background information and knowledge of cardiac terminology is assumed. Sometimes it is difficult to hear the difference between the various heart sounds. A clear explanation of what exactly should be heard is not necessarily provided.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:: • It is easy to use and heart sounds can be covered in a short period of time. This allows for frequent “re-visits” to the module for reinforcement of learning. • It could be used with classroom assignments where the information about the particular problem (e.g., aortic regurgitation, aortic sclerosis, etc.) could be presented in the classroom and what exactly the student should be listening for could be identified.
Concerns:: • No learning objectives are stated. • There is no explanation for each of the sounds and why they differ between the cardiac conditions. No prerequisite knowledge is identified. The various conditions are presented in alphabetical format. However, it might be a logical move to present normal sinus rhythm first so that students can learn normal sounds as a baseline. This will allow them to compare the abnormal sounds with the normal and will help to better identify the abnormalities in each recording.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:: Presented by a method familiar to students; easy to navigate; gives immediate feedback; instuctions are clear; and there are no distractions.
Concerns:: None

Other Issues and Comments:: This is a fun, easy to use, downloadable application that students could refer to over and over again. It is organized, interactive, and visually pleasing.
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