Incorporating standards into an instrumentation class

Abstract

First-year AuD students at Ohio State take Acoustics and Instrumentation in their first semester in the program. The course is offered simultaneously with courses in psychoacoustics and anatomy and physiology of the auditory system, as well as the first course in assessment covering behavioral testing. It is essentially a prerequisite for the two-course sequence on hearing aids, and later assessment courses covering middle ear measurements and ABR, as well as courses on cochlear implants and hearing conservation. Students enrolled in the course generally do not have a strong background in math and physics, but they are competent in algebra and trigonometry. One goal of the course is to develop a conceptual understanding of the basic acoustical and electronics principles underlying electroacoustic measurements. included with in those goals is the introduction to electroacoustic standards and to the role they play in the practice of audiology. To that end, the on-line instruction on standards offered by ANSI and the content of a recent two volume issue of Seminars in Hearing are incorporated into the “conventional” materials on acoustics and electronics. One unique feature of the course is the use of essay exams to test underlying concepts usually taught by “plug-and-chug” drills.