CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Preliminary research results for Pulse!! The Virtual Clinical Learning Lab will be presented Tuesday, Jan. 29, at the 16th annual Medicine Meets Virtual Reality Medical Education Conference (MMVR) in Long Beach, Calif., by principal investigator Claudia L. McDonald, Ph.D., and Jan Cannon-Bowers, Ph.D., who heads the Pulse!! evaluation team.

“Pulse!! Usability and Playability: Preliminary Findings” will be the first release of research results since the project’s inception in 2005. The playability and usability findings come from the first phase of Pulse!! field testing at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

McDonald is associate vice president for special projects at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi; Cannon-Bowers is an associate professor in the digital media department at the University of Central Florida.

Pulse!! is a case-based, experiential learning platform for medical education. It has been created using virtual-world computer technologies that immerse learners in a lifelike, interactive clinical environment in which they must think critically to diagnose symptoms and recommend treatment for a virtual patient in real time.

MMVR serves as an interdisciplinary forum for the presentation, assessment and development of innovative information-based tools for use in health care. Pulse!! has received more than $12 million in federal funds since 2005 through the Office of Naval Research with strong congressional support from U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi.

Pulse!! cases have been developed by an international team of subject matter experts and learning theorists. The platform has been produced in an on-campus studio at A&M-Corpus Christi in conjunction with BreakAway Ltd. of Hunt Valley, Md., a leading developer of entertainment games and game-based technology products.

Dr. McDonald’s recent career has focused on educational applications of high technology for institutions of higher learning. She is a board member of the Lonestar Education and Research Network (LEARN), a non-profit consortium supporting the educational goals of higher-education institutions through advanced computer networking.

Dr. McDonald also has presented the Pulse!! learning platform recently in the following settings:

• The Distance Education Advisory Council of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board on Dec. 6 in Austin, Texas.
• A panel titled, “Solutions from the Future,” chaired by CMDR Russ Shilling of the Office of Naval Research, for the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) on Nov. 27 in Orlando, Fla.
• A seminar on cutting-edge modeling and simulation technologies for resident physicians in surgery and anesthesia at the Baystate Medical Center of Tufts University on Nov. 16 in Springfield, Mass.
  

Dr. Cannon-Bowers is a former Navy senior scientist. As the team leader for Advanced Training Research, she was involved in a number of research projects directed toward improving performance in complex environments.