SOLAR: student oriented learning about radiography

The success or otherwise of a radiographic examination is like other health -related interventions, crucially dependent upon the Knowledge base of the radiographer and the quality of his/her clinical acumen. Traditional curric ular approaches are limited in their ability to assist students to make vit al connections between science and clinical decision making. This paper des cribes a computer-based case-oriented program called SOLAR (student oriente d learning about radiography) that has been designed to achieve the necessa ry level of integration. The key feature of SOLAR is the requirement for st udents to construct a clinical action plan in response to a scenario provid ed. Upon submitting this plan, the student can then compare his/her plan to that prepared by an expert. The browsing configuration of SOLAR makes it h ighly attractive for other health professions as well. Student feedback ind icates a high degree of approval for this approach.