Future education of animal
and veterinary students: skills
Liam A. Sinclair & Jayne Powles
Harper Adams University College
Outline of Presentation
• Employment market for animal and
veterinary skills
• Review of current provision of animal and
veterinary courses
• Approaches to teaching animal and
veterinary related courses with an
emphasis on skills
Employment market for Animal/Vet students
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Agriculturallivestock
Animal care Veterinarynursing
Game +wildlife
Equine Veterinary Feedindustry
AnimalTechn
Em
plo
ym
en
t (0
00
)
Data derived from Feed Statistics (2009), Lantra (2010); IDBR (2008); Defra (2008)
Undergraduate provision in England
• Recent increase in Animal Science
related courses
• Agric livestock = dominated by
FEC’s (HEFCE 2007)
• Animal care & equine have a
greater HE delivery (HEFCE 2007)
• Fastest growing sector = FEC’s
providing foundation degrees
• In HE skills arena, migration of
people from rural employment
following education. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
AgricLivestock
AnimalCare
Equine Sectoraverage
FEC's
Franchised FEC's
HEI
Review of provision for land-based subjects (2007)
HESA returns (2010)
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
Anim Sci
Agric
Vet Pre-Clin
Vet Clin
Qualification level: Agric livestock
0
5
10
15
20
25
None Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4+
Industry
UK%
% o
f w
ork
fo
rce
Lantra (2010)
- Distinction between skills needed
by industry and how these skills are
recognised by government (i.e.
qualifications).
- Majority of livestock employers
expect employees to gain skills “on
the job”
- Few HE courses formally teach
skills; some courses include a
placement year - 75% of vets learn practical skills at Univ; 96% stated they learned their skills via
extramural activities
- 76% of veterinary graduates stated “insufficient practical instruction, especially
surgery” (Fitzpatrick & Mellor, 2003)
Veterinary student satisfaction: practicals
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
V. poor
Poor
Avg
Good
V. Good
What skills do new graduates need?
Generic (domain general) Skills
• Application of knowledge
• Communication/team work
• Problem solving/critical thinking
• Reflective judgement
Animal and Veterinary course skills (domain specific)
• Animal management, husbandry, handling
• Laboratory/clinical skills
• People and business management/ethical practice
Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) can be used to assess
learning styles (Watkin et al., 1971)
GEFT scores are based on locating simple shapes within complex
figures
Effective teaching of skills
“Scientists are inherently and appropriately sceptical, so data
demonstrating that teaching differently will result in greater
learning must be part of any effort to convince them to change
their practices”
Carl Wieman: Nobel Prize in Physics (2001)
• Didactic lecture is most common but least effective method
• Superiority of novel pedagogies supported by inexpensive
technologies are supported by cognitive psychology
research (Wieman 2007)
• Common practice does not equal good practice
Support and Motivation
Scaffolding for success
Construct knowledge
“the most important factor influencing
learning is what the learner already
knows” Ausubel 1963
“teach concepts in terms of everyday
understanding” Vygotsky (1978)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
2007 2008 2009 2010
%F
arm
ing
Ba
ck
gro
un
d
Agricuture
Animals/Vet Nursing
Bloom’s (Anderson) taxonomy
• Training for technicians may cover knowledge, comprehension and
application, but not concern itself with analysis and above
• Full professional training may be expected to include this and synthesis and evaluation as well
Reasoning: Deep learning
Reproducing: Surface learning
• "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." (Confucius 551-479 BC) . This quote indicates that from the early ages people had different learning
preferences.
• The VARK model focuses on an individual and places the learner into one of four
categories: Visual, Aural, Read/Write, Kinesthetic. Instructor should recognise
stimuli and preference for learning/ processing new material (Dunn & Dunn 1993)
• Herrmann’s (1996) whole brain model (left brain/right brain) divides preferred
styles of learning into theorist or organiser (both left brain) or innovator or
humanitarian (both right brain) Petty 2006
75% theorists are Males
75% humanitarians are Females
• Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) can be used to assess learning styles (Watkin et al., 1971)
• GEFT scores are based on locating simple shapes within complex figures
Teaching approach and student learning
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
2007 2008 2009 2010
% M
ale
Agriculture
Animals/Vet Nursing
Can you find Wally? Field Independent
Teaching approach and student learning
Field-dependent:
- Difficulty when several steps in
tasks, not analytical
- Experience difficulty in problem
solving situations
- Prefer external goals
- Prefer collaboration and answers
provided
Field-independent:
- Enjoy several steps in task
- Good at analytical problem solving
- Prefer an enquiry approach to
learning
- Dislike collaboration
- Poor social skills
- Enjoy competition
Dairy Science
Poultry Science
Nutrition
No effect of age or sex
Rural background
Hoover & Marshall (1998)
Animal Science
Pre-veterinary
No effect of age or sex
Suburban background
• Instructor should recognize stimuli and preference for learning/ processing
new material. This model focuses on an individual and places the learner
into one of four categories:
(Dunn & Dunn 1993)
• Herrmann’s (1996) whole brain model (left brain/right brain) divides
preferred styles of learning into theorist or organiser (both left brain) or
innovator or humanitarian (both right brain) Petty 2006
• Use a range of activities which suit the different learning styles suggested
by these models and help students to develop their skills in the areas in
which they are initially less comfortable (Coffield et al 2004a)
• Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) can be used to assess learning
styles (Watkin et al., 1971)
• GEFT scores are based on locating simple shapes within complex figures
Teaching approach and student learning
Teaching approach and student learning
• Does matching teaching style to
student learning style improve
performance in animal related skills?
• Pig practical classes evaluated for
field dependant, independent or
mixed teaching style (Honeyman & Miller
1998)
• Students preferred teaching style
that matched their learning style
Student satisfaction
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8
3.9
4.0
4.1
4.2
Field-independent Combination Field-dependent
Field dependent
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8
3.9
4.0
4.1
4.2
Field-independent Combination Field-dependent
Field independent
Teaching approach and student learning
• Does matching teaching style to
student learning style improve
performance in animal related skills?
• Teaching style makes little difference
to field-independent learners, but
does influence field-dependent
learners
• Higher levels of cognitive effort
and gains in achievement with a
mixed approach
Student achievement
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
Field-independent Combination Field-dependent
Field independent
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
Field-independent Combination Field-dependent
Field dependent
Communication skills
• Communication problems contribute
to > 80% of cases dealt with by Veterinary
Defence Society
• Regarded by the RCVS as a core
professional competence
3 groups:
A = no formal training
B = 3 hours group study observing and
discussing videoed scenarios
C = 6 hours of small groups involving
discussion, videoed scenarios and role-
play actors with opportunity to repeat &
rehearse
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Buildingrelationship
Providinginformation
Aiding recall
A
B
C
Me
an
ma
rk
Latham & Morris (2007)
Communication skills
• Communication problems contribute
to > 80% of cases dealt with by Veterinary
Defence Society
• Regarded by the RCVS as a core
professional competence
3 groups:
A = no formal training
B = 3 hours group study observing and
discussing videoed scenarios
C = 6 hours of small groups involving
discussion, videoed scenarios and role-
play actors with opportunity to repeat &
rehearse
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Buildingrelationship
Providinginformation
Aiding recall
A
B
C
Me
an
ma
rk
Latham & Morris (2007)
Communication skills
• Communication problems contribute
to > 80% of cases dealt with by Veterinary
Defence Society
• Regarded by the RCVS as a core
professional competence
3 groups:
A = no formal training
B = 3 hours group study observing and
discussing videoed scenarios
C = 6 hours of small groups involving
discussion, videoed scenarios and role-
play actors with opportunity to repeat &
rehearse
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Buildingrelationship
Providinginformation
Aiding recall
A
B
C
Me
an
ma
rk
Latham & Morris (2007)
Problem Based Learning
Students identify learning objectives from a case/problem
Focus is on active learners – develops transferable skills
It is PROBLEM-Based Learning
Not subject based – students identify learning
It is Problem-BASED Learning
Aim not to solve problem: emphasis on gaps in knolwedge
and skills and how to remedy
It is Problem-Based LEARNING
Not teaching – students learn, tutors facilitate
Critical interactive thinking exercises In Undergraduate Reproductive Physiology
Problem solving question given to class
Students prepared composition
Small group discussions
Large class discussion
Activity greatly enhanced
Critical Thinking Skills and Learning
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Greatlyenhanced
Somewhatenhanced
Did not enhance
Perc
en
t o
f stu
den
ts
Peters et al, 2002
Active learning The didactic lecture is ineffective for student learning
(Bligh,1998) and rated low by students (Sander et al, 2000)
Personal Response Systems
demand interactivity from all
students and provide feedback on
individual conceptions and skills
• reinforce skills
Demonstrations/equipment/models
provide hands-on experience
• Active learning develops deep
understanding (Biggs, 2003)
Communicubes (Bostock et al 2006)
Project-based learning lab practicals
• Replace traditional “recipe-style” lab practical's with mini-research
projects.
• Students given a contextualised problem which they must solve in a
team.
Experimental skills
Laboratory manipulation, experimental observation, equipment
expertise.
Data Handling Skills
Data collection, processing and analysis, interpretation
Generic/Transferable Skills
Problem solving, team work, Scientific method/approach,
communication
McDonnell et al (2007)
Integration of E-learning
Discussion boards, chat rooms
Open ended problems
Self assessment quizzes
Simulations and animations
Pictures and videos
Powles, 2010
Assessment of laboratory skills
Professional mentality – acquiring and maintaining skills for
lifelong learning
Experimental learning cycle (Kolb,1984)
Clinical data Literature
Competence in a skill
Self-directed learning
Summary
• Increasing range of employment for animal based students and
potential shortfall in several areas
• Practical skills traditionally “taught on the job” with little formal
recognition within Higher Education
• Using a range of activities which suit different learning styles help
students to develop their skills in the areas in which they are
initially less comfortable (Coffield et al 2004a and 2004b)
• Building on prior knowledge and relating teaching to practical
examples/scenarios is critical.