APS 220 — Differential Diagnosis

Sample syllabus of record · Fall 2026 · Section 01 · 4 credit hours · Filed August 14, 2026

Course information

Course

APS 220 — Differential Diagnosis (4 cr.)

Division

Division of Anomalous Property and Nonstandard Conditions

Program

Technical Diploma — Anomalous Property Remediation

Prerequisite

APS 145.

Meetings

Lecture: Tuesday, 9:00–10:50 a.m., documentation bench

Laboratory: Thursday, 8:00–11:50 a.m., Mock Structure

Contact hours

30 lecture hours and 60 laboratory hours (2 lecture credits, 2 laboratory credits).

Instructor

Instructor

Franklin R. Bede, Acting Program Coordinator; Instructor

Office

See the Directory · ext. 2960

Office hours

Tuesday, 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.; Thursday, 12:30–1:30 p.m.; and by appointment.

Messages to the instructor are sent from the student’s College e-mail account and are answered within two business days.

Course description

The systematic elimination of conventional causes: HVAC, plumbing, structural and envelope, electrical, and biological, each tested and either excluded or identified. A cause is excluded only when the documentation supports the exclusion. Conducted against the documented defects of the Mock Structure.

Course outcomes

On completion of the course, the student will be able to:

1. Organize an assessment as a differential: list the conventional cause categories that could account for a reported condition before any one of them is tested.
2. Select and apply the test appropriate to each category using the Division’s calibrated instrument set, and record the instrument, its calibration status, and the reading.
3. State for each category whether it is excluded, identified, or not yet tested, and identify the documentation on which the statement rests.
4. Distinguish a finding from an opinion in written work, and record a condition for which no cause has been identified as unresolved.
5. Identify the point at which a condition requires referral to a licensed contractor, and document the referral.
6. Prepare a differential report suitable for review under the exclusion protocol required before scope development (APS 265).

Required materials

• Instruments are issued from the Division’s instrument set at the start of each laboratory and returned at its close. Instruments are not removed from the laboratory. Calibration records are maintained by the Division.
• The program kit issued in the first semester, including the bound field notebook. Laboratory entries are made in ink in the field notebook and are not transcribed from other notes.
• Laboratory sheets and the differential report form, distributed by the instructor.
• Course readings are distributed by the instructor. No textbook is required.
• Personal protective equipment required for a laboratory is listed on the laboratory sheet and is issued by the Division.

No course fee is charged. Program bench, kit, and instrument calibration charges are assessed to the program each semester under the Schedule of Charges (bench $760; kit $290; instrument calibration $110 per term). See the Schedule of Charges. Bench and laboratory fees are not refundable after the second week of instruction.

Schedule

Scroll the table horizontally to see all columns.

The defect inventory of the Mock Structure is held by the instructor and is not distributed to students. Laboratory assignments within the structure are made by the instructor and may be changed without notice. The schedule may be adjusted by the instructor; changes are announced in class and in DroverNet.

Assessment

A laboratory sheet is graded on the completeness of the record: the instrument used, its calibration status, the location and conditions of the reading, the reading, and the statement it supports. A sheet that states an exclusion without a supporting reading receives no credit for that exclusion.

An exclusion memorandum states, for one cause category, each test performed and its result, and concludes that the category is excluded, identified, or not yet tested. A memorandum that excludes a category without supporting documentation is returned and is not graded until the documentation is supplied.

The differential report is reviewed under the program’s exclusion protocol. Documented exclusion of conventional causes is required before a student may advance to scope development.

Final grades are assigned on the grading scale published in the Catalog of record.

Attendance

Attendance is required at every laboratory. A laboratory missed for a documented reason may be made up once in the term, at a time arranged by the instructor. Laboratories are not made up independently.

A student who arrives after the laboratory safety briefing does not enter the Mock Structure that session and is marked absent.

Entry to the Mock Structure outside scheduled instruction is prohibited under the Student Code of Conduct, Section 9.4.

The College observes Labor Day and the Thanksgiving recess (November 25–27). Shop, barn, and clinical assignments may require attendance during recess periods where continuity of care or process requires it.

Laboratory safety

The Mock Structure was built with documented defects to instructional specification. Students work in the structure only in the areas assigned for the session and only while the instructor is present.

Students do not open electrical panels, disconnect appliances, or alter any system in the structure. A condition requiring correction of an electrical, gas, or plumbing system is documented and referred. Graduates of the program are not licensed practitioners of any regulated profession, and this course does not qualify a student to perform work for which an Ohio license is required.

Withdrawal

The last day to withdraw without penalty is September 11. The last day to withdraw with a W is October 30. Withdrawal is processed by the Office of the Registrar and is not effected by ceasing to attend. Term dates are published in the Academic Calendar.

Accommodation

The College provides reasonable accommodation under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Accommodation is requested from Disability Services, Room A-134, ext. 2144, and not from the instructor. Accommodation is not retroactive; it begins when approved. Students are encouraged to request accommodation before the term begins, particularly in courses with shop, barn, clinical, or field components.

The instructor receives a letter stating the approved accommodations and does not receive the diagnosis, the documentation, or the reason. An instructor who believes an approved accommodation cannot be implemented in this course contacts the Coordinator and does not decline it to the student. Safety requirements are not waived; where an accommodation interacts with a safety requirement, the Coordinator works with Environmental Health and Safety to identify a compliant alternative.

The Mock Structure is deliberately non-compliant by instructional design. A student whose accommodation is affected completes the equivalent laboratory work at an alternate site arranged by the Division. Students are encouraged to request accommodation before the term begins so that the alternate site can be arranged.

A student who believes an accommodation was wrongly denied or improperly implemented may file with the Section 504/ADA Coordinator, Bernadette Ollsvig, Room A-118, ext. 2240.

Academic integrity

Work submitted in this course is the student’s own. Records, readings, and measurements are entered as made and are not completed from another student’s work or from memory after the session. Academic integrity is governed by the academic policies of the Catalog. A matter is referred to the Office of the Dean of Students under the Student Code of Conduct (Policy 5.30) where the Catalog so provides.

Artificial intelligence

For the use of generative artificial intelligence tools in this course, see the division’s determination. Questions about whether a particular use is permitted are directed to the instructor before the work is submitted.