A mechanism for using personal computer spreadsheet software to generate unique laboratory and problem assignments in optics for each student and provide corresponding solutions that can be checked quickly is described. The method minimizes some students' tendency to inspect others' solutions without solving problems themselves. Another…

Optometry educators can be assisted in making complex concepts understandable to students by using rhetorical devices such as metaphors, similes, analogies, parables, and allegories. As an example, the difficulties in communicating everyday but complex clinical concepts regarding inflammatory disorders are discussed and use of rhetorical devices…

Directors of clinics in 16 optometry schools and colleges were surveyed concerning cardiopulmonary resuscitation certification requirements for faculty, student clinicians, and nonprofessional staff. Only half the respondents required students to be certified, one-fourth required faculty to be certified, and none required certification of other…

A pediatric optometry clinic teaches students how to provide appropriate services for school-aged children who present, because of reduced visual acuity, unstable binocularity and perceptual skill disorders, and teaches about half the students the fundamentals of care of preschool children and strabismics. (Author/MSE)

The use of standardized course syllabi and behavioral objectives requires the commitment and acceptance of faculty and administrators, but it can also help schools of optometry establish standards for evaluating students and improving instructional quality. Classroom, laboratory, and clinical instruction all lend themselves to writing clear…

Two aspects of optometric preceptorships (off-campus field experience supervision programs) are discussed: the process of defining goals (long-term, specific learning, and general attitudinal and value); and the process of developing the program (initiation, site selection, preceptor selection and recruitment, participant selection, program…

The hardware used in microcomputer/videodisk systems and the applications of videodisk technology to developing and using educational modules in optometric education are outlined and discussed. (MSE)

A national survey of optometry schools (n=10) concerning the status of basic biological science instruction provides insight into manpower, curriculum, learning resources, and budgetary support currently available. Results indicate that major changes must occur and that a national effort will be needed to support them. (Author/MSE)

This article translates research from the fields of optometry, ophthalmology, neurology, and medicine on the efficacy of tinted lenses for students with reading disabilities into understandable information for lay people. The paper concludes that the treatment does not significantly improve reading, although some reports indicate improvement in a…

The curriculum design, philosophy, and innovation of four programs in geriatric optometry are described: the Pennsylvania College of Optometry and the colleges of Optometry at the State University of New York, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and University of Houston. (MSE)

As optometry expands its science curriculum, teaching methods must be examined. Instructional modalities must fit teaching needs, facilitate and improve student learning capacity, and be efficient; the student must participate as much as possible; and faculty must be aware of what colleagues are teaching and be receptive to new methods. (MSE)

InSight, a series of 10 HyperCard stacks, provides optometry students with first-hand experience with a number of visual phenomena and a variety of experimental data acquisition and analysis techniques. Each stack contains background information on the experiment topic, instructions, references to the literature, and questions to be answered.…

A survey of 16 optometry schools shows foreign student enrollment up from 1.1 percent to 2.1 percent of total enrollment between 1977-78 and 1989-90. A rapid increase in Canadian students is noted, with growth from 19 percent to 54.4 percent of all foreign enrollment. Opportunities for improving the field worldwide are seen in these trends. (MSE)

Science education for optometry must go beyond therapeutic patient management to more preparation for biologically based care. Optometry faculty should be involved in research driven by specific patient problems and should prepare professionals to address patient quality-of-life and daily living needs. Interdisciplinary collaboration is needed.…

A model for a geriatric optometry curriculum that defines key content areas and addresses the values essential for effective practice and basic therapeutic modalities used in treatment regimens with older adults is outlined. (MSE)