Studying Diagnostic Reasoning in Medical Education
Researchers
- Eunice Jang (U. of Toronto, Theme 3)
- Rafael Calvo (Sydney U., Theme 2)
- Susanne P. Lajoie (McGill U., Theme 1)
- Roger Azevedo (North Carolina State U., Theme 1)
Post-Doctoral Researcher
- Stephen Bodnar, McGill U.
Research Assistants
- Amanda Jarrell, McGill U.
- Maren Gube, McGill U.
- Maedeh Kazemitabar, McGill U.
BioWorld
BioWorld is a computer-based learning environment that provides a realistic environment for students to learn about diseases through solving specific patient cases (Lajoie, Lavigne, Guerrera, & Munsie, 2001). BioWorld provides a hospital simulation where students learn diagnostic reasoning by visiting patients, interpreting patient symptoms, conducting diagnostic tests, and collecting appropriate information in the library. Solving a patient case in BioWorld not only consists of submitting the right diagnosis, but also requires the student to select and organize evidence that supports and justifies decisions made throughout the case resolution process. 
CaseBuilder
One key aspect of adapting BioWorld to a medical audience is to revise and construct cases at an appropriate level. In our attempts to create and develop valid cases in medical education, we have experimented with different methodologies and scenarios to structure case creation (Gauthier, Lajoie, Richard, & Wiseman,2007). The companion authoring tool, CaseBuider (Lajoie et al., 2001) was designed to allow both instructors and researchers to easily modify cases and also enable to explore instructional activities for case creation. A newly built web-based management interface allows instructors to manage student users, selectively release cases, and review dynamically-generated individual and class reports.
Selected Publications
modeling_metacognitive_activities.pdf
investigating_performance_differences_in_clinical_reasoning.pdf
relationship_between_feedback_and_emotions.pdf
learning_to_diagnose_a_virtual_patient.pdf