Student experiences and perceptions of compulsory research projects: a veterinary perspective.

BACKGROUND: Although research underpins clinical work, many students training to be clinicians are not inherently interested in developing research skills. AIM: To characterise and understand veterinary student experiences and perceptions of compulsory research projects. METHODS: This was an explanatory sequential mixed-methods study, with a questionnaire survey of an entire cohort informing purposive selection for focus group discussions. Student views were triangulated with staff questionnaire data. RESULTS: About a third of the cohort felt that the project had not been worthwhile or had not fostered useful skills. Focus group data analysis identified fragility of motivation and lack of clear schemata for the research process as key themes. Students were easily demotivated by typical research challenges and lack of schemata contributed to a poor understanding of the rationale for the project, encouraging highly extrinsic forms of motivation. Triangulation with staff questionnaire data indicated that staff understood students' challenges, but were more likely than students to consider it to be a valuable learning experience. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support ongoing curriculum development and emphasise that, to optimise motivation, engagement and learning, students training to be clinicians need a clear rationale for research, based on development of critical inquiry skills as a core clinical competency.

Evaluating #VetFinals: Can Twitter help students prepare for final examinations?

Twitter is increasingly used in education. In this article, Twitter was evaluated for its potential to aid veterinary students in their preparation for final examinations. "#VetFinals" revision sessions were facilitated by experts on a variety of topics. The initiative was evaluated through consideration of potential participants, session content and student experiences. In analysis of nine sessions, 52 students participated from eight veterinary schools. During a session, the facilitator tweeted 66 times on average, primarily asking a general question. Students on average tweeted 84 times, mostly in response to facilitators. They also asked novel questions and responded to fellow students. Focus groups and interviews with 11 students suggested that: sessions are useful for preparation/self-testing to succeed in exams; the facilitator and session style impact on learning; the sessions feel like personalized learning; there are elements of safety and exposure leading to some fear of tweeting; peer-learning promotes competition; a community of learners was formed; Twitter has become a part of normal professional life. Whilst not all students will take part in this type of social media use, many found it beneficial. The importance of the facilitator suggests the need for faculty development.

Challenges and responsibilities of clinical teachers in the workplace: an ethnographic approach.

This study aimed to explore the complex role of the clinical teacher in the workplace, with a view to identifying effective teaching practices. An ethnographic case-study approach was taken, including participant observations and semi-structured interviews with three participants that were selected from two participating veterinary institutions. The clinical teacher has several responsibilities, such as establishing a rapport with learners and maximizing the use of case-based learning opportunities to provide instruction and support to individual learners in a safe but challenging environment. Associated difficulties include balancing the competing demands of students' learning needs and patients' welfare, as well as maximizing the learning opportunities within available case material. Participants in this study demonstrated a reflective approach, adjusting their teaching approach "in action" and "on action" as appropriate.

Teacher development: a patchwork-text approach to enhancing critical reflection in veterinary and para-veterinary educators.

Reflection is an essential component of teacher-development programs, and reliable, valid methods to teach, assess, and evaluate reflection are critical. However, it is important that appropriate methods are created for and evaluated across multiple disciplinary backgrounds, as the participants' backgrounds are a major factor in the development of critical reflection. The patchwork-text approach is a narrative process that is predominantly focused on the personal development of the individual. The current study used the patchwork-text approach for the development of reflection in participants with a science background who had not used a reflective approach for personal development before. Twenty summative essays and 103 formative essays from 21 participants who underwent a 1-year higher-education teacher-development program were analyzed to assess whether the quality and quantity of reflective writing was enhanced through a regular, iterative process of reflective writing with feedback. The analysis of the essays involved the use of a predefined set of criteria for identifying the different reflective levels from 1 to 4 and the calculation of a reflective score to evaluate the overall development. The results show a clear improvement of higher-level critical thinking as the participants progressed through their course. Higher levels of reflection were achieved particularly where a unit focused on a familiar area for the participant as opposed to one in which the participant had less experience. The analysis provides evidence that the patchwork text is a useful method for development and evaluation of reflection in participants with a veterinary/animal-science base.

Workplace-based assessment instruments in the health sciences.

A historical overview of the development of assessment instruments in the health sciences is presented here, with specific attention paid to workplace-based assessment instruments. Three instruments are reviewed in detail: the mini clinical evaluation exercise (mCEX), direct observation of procedural skills (DOPS), and multi-source feedback (MSF). Features common to these instruments include their authenticity, their use in assessing professional skills, and the opportunities they afford for the provision of feedback. Although almost exclusively used in graduate medical training, they are likely to play an increasingly important role in the assessment of veterinary undergraduate students in preparation for professional practice. However, the time and cost associated with implementing these instruments raises questions about their feasibility. The continued search for the holy grail of assessment instruments and the challenges relating to the need for trained assessors leads us to conclude that ultimately, the competence of health professionals should continue to be measured using several complementary instruments.