Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Radiography in the Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences, 2008 / Introduction
Research to date has not been able to agree whether spatial abilities can be
developed by practice. According to some researchers spatial ability is an inherited
cognitive ability, compared to spatial skills that are task specific and can be acquired
through formal training. It is commonly assumed that radiographers require general
cognitive spatial abilities to interpret complex radiographic images. This research
was conducted to investigate second year radiography students’ three-dimensional
thinking skills pertaining to film-viewing assessments.
Materials and methods
The experimental research strategy was mainly applied together with correlation
research. Two trials were run (in 2005 and 2006). The sample group consisted of
fifteen second year diagnostic radiography students in 2005 and twenty-three second
year diagnostic radiography students, of the same institution, in 2006. Each year
group was randomly divided into a control group and an intervention group. Two
instruments were used, that is a film-viewing assessment and a three-dimensional
test, Academic Aptitude Test (University) (AAT) nr. nine: Spatial Perception (3-D).
The whole class completed this basic spatial aptitude test, as well as a base-line film viewing
assessment, which focused on the evaluation of technique/anatomy of
second year specialised radiographic projections. The marks that the students
achieved in the fore-mentioned tests were compared, to determine if there was any
correlation between their performances in the different tests. A curricular
intervention, which was intended to improve applied three-dimensional skills, was
subsequently applied. The students executed certain modified radiographic
projections on parts of a human skeleton. For each radiographic projection, the
students had to draw the relation of the X-ray beam to the specific anatomical
structures, as well as the relation of these structures to the film. The related images
of these projections were also drawn. With each of the following sessions, films
including images of the previous session were discussed with each student. After the
intervention, the whole class wrote a second film-viewing assessment. The marks
achieved in this assessment were compared to the marks of the initial film-viewing
assessment to determine the influence of the intervention on the performance of the
intervention group. Following this assessment, for ethical reasons, the same
intervention took place with the control group. A third film-viewing assessment was
then written by all the diagnostic second year students to evaluate the overall impact
of the intervention on the applied three-dimensional skills of the class. The marks of
both the 2005 and 2006 classes (intervention classes) were compared to the marks
achieved by former classes from 2000 to 2004 (control classes), in film-viewing
assessments to evaluate the role of the curricular intervention over the years. The
students again completed the three-dimensional test, Spatial Perception (3-D) to
evaluate the impact of the intervention on students’ general three-dimensional
cognitive abilities. These marks were also compared to the marks of the third filmviewing
assessment, to determine if there was any correlation between the students’
performances in the different tests.
Results
The intervention groups did not perform significantly better in film-viewing
assessments after the intervention, compared to the control groups, but reasonable
differences, favouring the intervention group, were achieved. Statistical significance
was achieved in film-viewing assessments with both year groups after the whole
class had the intervention. The intervention year groups also performed significantly
better than the previous year groups (without the intervention) in film-viewing
assessments. The performance in general three-dimensional cognitive abilities of the
group of 2006 improved significantly after the intervention, but on the contrary, the
performance of the group of 2005 declined. There was a small intervention effect on
the performance of the group of 2006. Only a weak to moderate correlation between
the marks of the students achieved in the three-dimensional tests and the marks
achieved in the film-viewing assessments, was found.
Conclusion
The contrasting evidence between the data of the two groups (2005 and 2006) in the
three-dimensional tests and the small intervention effect on the performance of the
group of 2006, makes the intervention not applicable for the increase of general
spatial abilities. The results of this research show that the applied three-dimensional
skills of radiography students in interpreting specialised and modified projections
can be improved by intensive practice, independent of their inherited spatial
abilities.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:cput/oai:localhost:20.500.11838/1564 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Venter, Dalene |
| Publisher | Cape Peninsula University of Technology |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/za/ |
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