STUDENTS STUDENTS STUDENTS

"You can say any fool thing to a dog, and the dog will give you this look that says, `My God, you're RIGHT! I NEVER would've thought of that!'"  - Dave Barry

 

AUDREY’S EVALUATION PLAN

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Unit 7337 care for dogs - husbandry

Evaluating my new course design?

  I plan to use the Survey monkey produced survey which I designed to measure student satisfaction, it asks students how easy they found the new content and if it was useful to them.

  The course outcomes, did we manage to get better results this year?

  Feedback from local veterinary clinics through work placement verification, are the students able to carry out the procedures effectively and safely?

Who’s going to test it before it goes live?

  I plan to use a test group of students prior to going live and use their feedback to redesign if necessary

  My colleagues will be asked for feedback.

  My moderation partner has reviewed the videos, made some suggestions that have already been implemented but it will be interesting to see what student’s really think; I find it easy to get swept up in thinking my stuff is the bees knees (but it’s not always so).

Ongoing monitoring

  This will be done using very similar methods to the above section. I plan to use face to face reporting from students. As I will be teaching this module next year it will be possible to get instant feedback from students as we review the videos together (as part of the block course content)

  We have a junior lecturer starting next year and she has already spoken to me about joining in with this unit so it will be possible to get feedback from her.

  Peer observation – done annually and I can decide what I want observed (usually done by head of school), this will give me formative feedback rather than judging the content, it will look at how I present the information but will be valuable information because we can have the best stuff in the world but the connection for delivery is vital for success.

Judging success

  Student’s completing the course seems the most obvious way to judge success but can be a bit misleading, we often give students a couple of re-sits for each unit so just using this tool only gives a general view of success.

  Ongoing formative assessment will be used throughout the delivery, the videos will fit well with the formative workbook that students already complete as they will be using peer feedback during the course (working through the videos and using discussion groups)

Gathering the data

  After reading the forum posts I have learned a new way to survey, using the one that is already set up on the website, I will be using the one designed and shown in my plan but I will be looking at this resource, don’t want to burden the students with too much surveying, and get the ‘fed up of surveys’ response (tick anything to get through it).

  Student’s already have several opportunities to get industry verification, this gives prospective employers chance to remark on performance, while this gives qualitative data, I think this is the most valuable data, and information that will drive the refining of the unit.

  Quantitative data from assessments completed (and passed) are we getting good success rates; we can use this to demonstrate to the OP board that we are meeting targets, which will help with funding.

Using the information

  I plan to use the information from the surveys and face to face meetings to look at improving the delivery, giving more of what the students think is useful, rather than what I think they need (or what I would like).

  I can use the information to look at the delivery method and how this fits in with learner styles; hopefully feedback shows the information is useful.

  We can use information gathered to look at how we market the course to new students and the industry, I like the idea of using past students work (with permission) to show what we provide. I also plan to use more students in the videos (showing real students doing the work rather than just staff); I can also address diversity through this by using indigenous students.

You lookin' at me?

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While I was thinking about what I would do for my students I also had to think about how it would be done, as my students are mainly distance learners and we only have 8 days a year face to face teaching. I think when we do see students we pack heaps into the block courses, but with the best will in the world they are often keen to get home at night and on the last day it's a mass exodus for flights so usually ends up being more like three and a half days.

The second block course is also very heavily weighted towards assessments that students have studied between the two courses and need to show competence in.

So what am I going to do about helping these students who get little face to face contact but still need to show competence in a very complicated subject?

Firstly I'm going to make the videos I've already mentioned so that's a given, secondly as a school we have made some big decisions about how we are going to improve student contact with lecturers and give the students much more support.

For the past couple of years students have contacted program coordinators if they have issues with anything related to their course, this can be a big ask for coordinators, as we have 200 students and only 2 coordinators. As well as being a big ask, these staff also lecture and mark, also not every lecturer is up to speed on every subject (we can't know everything about everything it's not practical), so sometimes students get passed along to staff who have an answer, not the best system, and probably frustrating for students.

So from next year we will be responsible for units within our courses which we have an interest in and knowledge about, so I will be looking after the dogs, diagnostic samples, anatomy and zoonoses, what will happen now is students call in or email about an issue or for help and they are directed to the person with the best chance of helping them, I think this will really improve the satisfaction rate for students and be less frustrating for staff who sometimes struggle to help. Great!

Instead of giving face to face time we now have a system where students get the best information and help for them, so even though it isn't in real time (it will be by email and moodle) there may be an opportunity to make staff available on skype, as long as we are aware of the impact on staff of being accessible  9-5.

I feel really excited that I can be seen as the 'expert' for my units and this gives me a real boost in confidence which I am bound to pass on to my students.

Great how the little things (like more work) make us feel valued!

a couple of comments from colleagues on the Constructing Courses forum

Yes Audrey, sometimes the obvious sticks out like dog's balls.... seriously, a great posting and some great ideas!
Cheers, Terry

Hi Audrey
Had to respond to this one as it did put a smile on my face. I love your idea of videos but also wondered , for the distance learners that would not have a closely observed "hands on session", whether models were available for practice or that the student was able, in return video a session to show evidence of completing this task - also as something to watch/use for revision after a class review. I am not a vet but being a kinaesthetic learner. I value feedback on actual tasks completed. A recent one for me was clipping the our goats' hooves but getting a good neighbour to advise if I was doing this correctly.Hope this contributes!


And my reply

Thanks Hilary, glad it made you smile.
I think you have hit the nail on the head, this resource is definitely aimed at our distance students, we have struggled for some time on how to assess they have grasped how seriously they need to take this procedure, because if they get it wrong a perforated bowel is just one thing of a range than can happen. As a school we do a lot of video assessing and it is planned for next year that students do more to show skill as well as knowledge, unfortunately videoing this task still falls outside what we can expect students to physically do (because of the risks). You are right about models and we do have a number of options open to us, but these would be class based, so not really useful for distance because we couldn't lend them out to 200 students in the time frame needed (and I don't think it would be right to ask them to buy expensive equipment).

I do think you are spot on with the feedback and I think that would be the next part of this process, I envisage they would look at notes, videos, and other resources then have a go under supervision at a clinic (where I suppose they could video it for us), and perhaps something like the moodle lesson tool could be used with real photos showing the right and wrong way to do it and giving feedback on achievement. Wouldn't it be marvelous if I could get a video that they could manipulate like a flight simulator to get right on target?

UNIT STANDARD 7337 CARE FOR DOGS

This is the link to the unit standard I am working on for next year. I am particularly interested in looking at section 5 providing hands-on husbandry for dogs

The nitty gritty

YES YOU ARE RIGHT IT IS A DOGS BUTT!

I chose to show you this picture because I have talked a lot about why I want to do something and why it's important but I think now is the time to get to the sharp end of just what it is I plan to do.

this picture is of my dog Fin so I feel happy that I won't upset anybody by showing their dog in a compromising position. This picture demonstrates that although most people know that taking a dog's temperature involves going somewhere near this end as a trainee veterinary nurse we expect our students to be able to take a dogs temperature after giving them minimal instruction. Our full time students get to see and potentially practice the procedure, but distance students are given written instructions and are instructed to find videos from the likes of youtube. This worries me a lot, there is a lot that can go wrong and a lot of damage can be done to an animal if it's not done right.  Also students are asked to demonstrate the skill at the second block course (after only 4 days face to face earlier in the year), and I think this greatly disadvantages the distance students.

I decided after a lot of talking with students and colleagues that the best way to help our distance students was to provide them with the correct information via a video format, showing the best practice for this procedure (and a few other) that they can refer to asynchronously (when they like), and can watch repeatedly. I think this will enhance their skills, reduce their anxiety at assessment and reduce the likelihood that they will try out the procedure inaccurately and hurt an animal.

The utilisation of videos is something I feel confident in doing, I have recently had a lot of tuition in how to make videos from still and video footage, and have found out how to use movie maker and audacity, both great programs that give quite a polished result. if you are thinking of using this method, my advice (after  a lot of trial and error) would be to make a soundless recording and dub the voice over, that way you avoid lots of editing later because I always make boobs.

The making of the videos will require more than myself, I have made the taking temperature one and it went well, but it required a person to restrain the dog and a person to video me taking his temperature, so it is very reliant on manpower. other lecturers are planning similar resources for students so I expect I will reciprocate their time.

I have found the department well supplied with talent when it comes to making different resources, there is always somebody to give me advice and shows me new ways of working (which is good because I'm not the best with computer software) so it makes sense that I help them out with videoing, which I'm really good at., or at least don't get shaky pictures.

Once these videos are completed I plan to make them available through the moodle on-line environment, and that's where I come unstuck. I don't have a clue how to transfer anything to moodle, or even how to compress the files so they load quicker. I will definitely be looking for help here, and as luck has it we have a moodle champion right here! phew!

So in a nutshell, I am happy making the videos, need help to make them in terms of manpower and time out of marking, planning for next year and some training on using moodle and how to make files usable.

I will show you a much better photo when I get the thermometer in there, enjoy!

Surveying students

I have been trying something new as part of the constructing courses unit I am taking and part of this is to gather feedback on activities, I think if you are asking a student to undertake something then they are the people to ask for feedback, so a colleage directed me to this site called survey monkey, it's great you can ask anything and get students to fill it in. the best part is the site does all the work as long as you know what you want to find out it's easy
I'm hoping this link will go to the survey I designed as a test, give it a go if it does I will be stoked!