July 7, 2025, by Ben Atkinson

Xerte-Based Interactive 3D Pathology Quiz: Utilizing Photogrammetry to Enhance Veterinary Pathology Education

 In this guest blog post, Carlo Bianco, Clinical Assistant Professor in Veterinary Anatomic Pathology, in the UoN Vet School, shares his work on 3D Pathology and using the Xerte tool to produce interactive digital resources to assess knowledge. Bianco recently completed a PGCHE and through the course produced new digital learning resources. Using a combination of the 3D visualisation tool Polycam and the Xerte tool, Bianco describes his approach to developing this new resource below.

Xerte-Based Interactive 3D Pathology Quiz: Utilizing Photogrammetry to Enhance Veterinary Pathology Education – Our Insights and Experience

I am very passionate about photography and visual communication, and  during my PGCHE modules, I tried to focus and study aspects related to learning style and I am particularly interested in kinaesthetic and visual learning styles. During the last couple of years, with my Veterinary Pathology team at the Vet School, we were developing photogrammetry based animations for research, diagnostic and teaching of veterinary pathology.  The  last   Module of the PGCHE   (Developing Blended Learning Environments) was the perfect occasion to design and develop a self Directed Learning  material, a  photogrammetry based veterinary pathology 3 D interactive quiz, which I was envisioning since a while.

I was not aware of any similar SDL experience in the Vet School or in the University of Nottingham and I asked IT support to a colleague (Ben Atkinson). When the technical aspect of the quiz were sorted,  I develop the quiz with the help of my PGCHE tutor (Denise Sweeney). The experience was highly rewarding. Throughout the development and design of the quiz, I received insightful feedback, suggestions, and comments from colleagues at my vet school, which proved invaluable. On several occasions, they recognized the significant potential of the photogrammetry technique, leading to new collaborations and sparking additional ideas.

There was some interest also in the IT sector and I was asked to try to draft a write up describing the rationale behind the 3d quiz and some technical and pedagogic aspects. To maintain the inter and transdisciplinary, I decided to ask to  my colleagues involved in the development of the quiz to actually write this piece, to highlight the importance of multidisciplinary. Given the fact that this is not a formal scientific paper, I think a sort of assemblage of our  perspectives could work. I will start with the rationale behind the design of the 3d pathology quiz, and later I will include the perspectives of Denise and Ben, since I think that the multidisciplinary is a very positive aspect of this experience.

When I envisioned the quiz, I  focused not only on the possible “digital container” of this and of course on  the “content” but I tried to have a better view and identify the features of the “users/learners”, the Z generation students (Ztudents). Ztudents are often technoholic, technocentric, and digital natives, They are very pragmatic and favour authenticity, favouring hands on, individual learning, expecting  technology to be seamlessly integrated into their education. They are comfortable with online courses, virtual classrooms, and interactive learning platforms. This aligns with their frequent use of platforms like YouTube. TikTok and  they use they are a smartphone generation, where the smartphone is not just a tool, but an extension of themselves—almost like an extra limb.  Another aspect I took into account is that With the abundance of digital content, Ztudnets may have shorter attention spans. I decided therefore to  create engaging and concise  interactive content to keep their attention and optimised on smartphones. I think that this approach will favour Ztudnets with visual, multimodal and kinaesthetic learning styles.

The  content of the quiz, the animations, were created with smartphones or tablets using a free app called Polycam. Briefly, the  digitalised 3D models were produced through a process called photogrammetry. This technique models a 3D space by collecting geometric information via a series of overlapping two-dimensional (2D) still image photographs taken from numerous angles. This method is relatively inexpensive  and very efficient and offers very good results for macroscopic pathology specimens.

I was recommended to use Xerte the quiz platform due to its flexibility and ability to integrate various interactive elements. To streamline access, I generated a QR code that links directly to the Xerte page.

References

Durrani Z, Penrose F, Anderson J, Ricci E, Carr S, Ressel L. A complete workflow from embalmed specimens to life-like 3D virtual models for veterinary anatomy teaching. J Anat. 2025 May;246(5):857-868.

 

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