The Development and Evaluation of a Computer-Based Pure Tone Audiometer Trainer. Final Report

Since it is impractical to have students test patients for hearing loss, training in basic pure tone audiometry is usually inadequate. To remedy this, a simulated audiometer was developed that interfaced with an IBM 1500 instructional system for computer-assisted instruction, and a course of instruction was written in Coursewriter II. The instructional portion of the program was tested with 27 subjects of varying backgrounds in audiology. Sixteen subjects produced acceptable audiograms on the criterion task; of those who did not, all but two showed improvement during the criterion task. No systematic relationships were found between time for the course, number of errors, and final performance. Students performed equally well, whether they had had experience with audiometry or not. Extension of the course to include more sophisticated audiometric test procedures, addition of an audio capacity, and improvements to the Audiometer Trainer Unit are recommended. It is suggested that the concept can be applied to other health-related devices and training. Appendices include theory and maintenance instructions, an instructional manual, course frames, computer listings, a course outline, an oral postprogram questionnaire, and sample of Unit 3 audiograms. (MF)