Advanced Diploma In Canine Behaviour Management

Just Signed up for the Canine Behaviour course. It's an e course so I can study at my own pace and use my own style.
Can't wait to get to grips with how dogs learn, see if it's the way I think they do. Fin can be my guinea pig.

He doesn't look too concerned does he?

Canine behavior for diploma vet nurses

Survivor Newfoundland

A fantastic day, diploma nurses really rocked it out. They managed to outwit, outplayed and outlast me on several occasions. Their dog training skills were excellent, and they only used positive reinforcement - how great is that.
It was a real pleasure to spend the day with them, and to see how Otago veterinary nurses are the best in the country.
Fin also had a great day, treats galore and he met heaps of other dogs during the hands -on practical session. He was shattered and spent the night curled up in front of the fire, just like I said, a tired dog is a happy dog.
Great work guys well done

Changing focus

What a great day at the polytech today, Finbar spent all day playing, sleeping and generally hanging about being petted. I also spent some time thinking about what I can do for our 4 legged friends, and in particular What we can do for helping vet nurses to understand how our canine companions feel, behave and think
I made the decision to focus this blog on what a dog needs to be happy, I think calm, consistent and knowledgeable owners have to be the key, so here goes lets do it together!

finbar the boy

Just found this picture from ages ago, fin hasn't aged but I look way older, or do I just feel it!

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

http://media.photobucket.com/image/LOTS+OF+DOGS+/jlnichols_photos/Dogs.gif

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?

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh4jbApR8xtN3hJywx9rMW_j8LRoWs88uQWr-gKELfgqy9Hjd6c-A2IF2o3eSG-OWu42RfEJjDRM5Epv6XkFAUPs2bCeLxU5xS9aFBimAgnHe2pn8o6PZnvlM04DlKfswqTVImXyuF5V4n/s320/happy-puppy-joshua-sunday.jpg

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!

Flexible learning - the big picture

I am looking at the final assessment for the flexible learning course, and trying to link it into a new teaching model I discovered while searching the web, it's called the participation model by Collis & Moonen.

I would really love your feedback on my plan so give it the once over and make suggestions
I would really like to know your thoughts on the global community, does it seem something that is achievable in my lifetime
Thanks in advance
Audrey

electronic portfolios post

HI Jenny and the other guys, it is interesting that some of our material requires a high standard of comprehension (i guess) and how we can assume because we can read it confidently the rest should be able to. Our students in vet nursing have a similar problem, the notes can often contain strange language and words a mile long, very of putting to students, we have done a lot of work in re-vamping our written notes to reduce terminology where we can and to introduce ideas in picture, video and interactive forms, all seem to have students engaging more in various topics, the problem we face is we are constrained by unit standards which often want us to assess using written material, where most of our teaching is done in kinesthetic styles because nursing is a 'hands on' profession, i'm sure this causes confusion for the students who learn to 'do' then have to write about doing it. not sure what the answer is?


We are now looking at using things like a portfolio to show evidence of competence, and I remember from my nursing days that attestations from other nurses and colleagues could be counted as evidence (with other bits as well) to show competence, I would be interested if an on-line portfolio might be the answer,showing students doing tasks, getting feedback and reflecting on that feedback (just like we are doing). anybody have any ideas?

Theoretical perspective (as part of constructing courses)

Audrey Campbell


National Certificate in Animal Care






Aims

To improve the already flexible delivery program, by enhancing written materials with video and discussion forums via a blog.

To address learner’s feedback regarding lack of visual demonstration for several important procedures which are currently shown only in diagram form.

To enhance the range of information available to learners; taking into account VARK learning styles, in relation to practical aspects of caring for dogs unit, such as restraining a dog, lifting and handling, and basic care procedures such as claw clipping.

To providing information in a form that can be accessed anywhere asynchronously.


Theory behind it all

The restructuring of this unit fits into the connectivist theory of learning dubbed "a learning theory for the digital age” which utilises several Principles

Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions.

Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources.

Learning may reside in non-human appliances.

Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known

Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning.

Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill.

Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities.

Decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality. While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision. Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age

The objective of providing additional visual information for this part of the unit is to ensure learners are able to demonstrates competence in carrying out the tasks required to complete the unit; but more so, that the learner feels confident in carrying out what's required because the tasks will be in context for the learner as the videos will show appropriately dressed veterinary nurses in uniform performing the tasks. Linking videos to social networking sites will allow a range of opinions to be developed and raise new ideas, hopefully stimulating learners to want to know more, and being available on-line will allow learners to access the material as needed allowing them to take control over their learning.

Learners can have positive concepts of how they are performing when in control of the methods of learning, which Bandura, Schwartzer (1992) termed academic self efficacy, in particular that an individual learner’s belief that he or she can control what they learn, how they interact and how they perform, encourages learners to engage in and complete course-specific tasks. If we as teachers feed those positive concepts, through social networking and asynchronous content, for example, learners will have a positive experience and want to achieve more.

I liken Bandura’s concept to motivational speakers that say if you think positive then you will succeed a bit like Winston Churchill who said “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

I envision it will be a bit difficult to measure a learner’s confidence (as it’s more of an internal feeling not easily quantifiable, currently we measure efficiency rather than confidence) but we may see more learners completing individual units, and the courses, and draw inference to confidence.

So what about the learners?

The veterinary nursing school already has a good grounding in using alternative methods of delivery; we have used on-line teaching for some time and have developed a good understanding of using tools like Moodle, Exe and Elluminate. These tools are useful to some levels of students, but as with most on-line content, some computer experience is needed and the confidence to ask for help without looking stupid is required. OP has a good I T support network available until early evening, but many distance learners need help 24/7. I know from personal experience how frustrating not having the computer knowledge can be when desperate to complete something. The school is also forging ahead with embedding literacy and numeracy within our course notes, and more recently into the multi-media arena, I envisage the use of learner and tutor videos will help, with embedding literacy in particular, as the content will include explanations and verbal instructions relating to the written course notes.

One very useful aspect of the school is the diversity of learners and courses, there is access to many learners who have completed previous, similar and higher level courses, as well as different disciplines, companion animal nursing, and rural animal technology (large/production animal); we are now starting to use learner video and photographic evidence as material for current learners, I find this an exciting prospect which I think will help to further conceptualise the information for current learners, and as a by-product show them they can succeed (back to Bandura).

So what about our industry? (I still think of myself as a nurse first and lecturer second)

We are governed by many industry and government regulations in what we can teach, mainly aimed at what the industry needs; after all nurses need to be providing what employers need or they won’t find jobs, and our school’s reputation would be diminished, but there is no constraints on what we can enhance for prospective nurses over and above the set curriculum. If we don’t keep up with current trends and information then learners will not have the skills to meet industry needs, the industry will also feel less confident in our ability as a provider to equip nurses to think as well as do. So learners passing courses are great for the school success rates, and the industry, but I feel the use of social networking (as one tool in our toolbox) will allow us to keep information current, get nurses in touch with each other and new developments around the world, grow nurses confidence, enhance the nursing profession as a whole and allow Otago to maintain its standing in the veterinary nurse education field.

References

Bandura, A., & Schwarzer, R. (1992). Exercise of personal agency through the self-efficacy mechanism. Hemisphere Publishing Corp. Retrieved from http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=psyh&an=1992-97719-001&loginpage=login.asp&site=ehost

Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, Vol. 2 No. 1, Jan 2005

VARK learning styles http://www.vark-learn.com/english/index.asp

More information

See more of Bandura’s ideas at http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Self-efficacy#Self_Efficacy_in_the_Classroom

Treading Softly On Learners Dreams

‘Connectivism is the notion that knowledge is distributed across a network of connections, and therefore that learning consists of the ability to construct and traverse those networks’

http://darcymoore.net/2009/09/18/connectivism-connective-knowledge-cck09/


Darcy suggests that tertiary learners make sense of their surroundings, and by default the course content, through social interactions, and that the tutor’s role is often one of change agent, helping the learner make the jump from the world of high school, where teaching is linear (study this – take this exam – gain this qualification), to the tertiary setting where they will be expected to have a degree of independent thought and action. Rather like Sir Ken Robinson’s metaphor of a car production line, each learner has an engine, four wheels and a gearbox, give it a little petrol (job to do) and it will go from a to b in roughly a straight line without much thought, but give the same learner a jumble of parts and the ability to make connections with other like minded learners through media such as the internet and hey presto, the car parts now become an organic thing, basically anything the learners can envisage.

See Darcy’s simple but very useful presentation on connectivism:

http://ginag2.vodspot.tv/watch/2544655-connectivism-in-plain-english

And Sir Ken Robinson’s full (and funny) take on moving education from linear to organic:

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/865


Zone of proximal development (ZDP) Vygotsky

‘The distance between the actual developmental level... and the level of potential development [facilitated] through problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers’.

Vygotsky suggests the role of education is to provide learners with experiences which are within their ZPD, thereby encouraging and advancing their individual learning, for example students need to try out tasks that are not too easy for them to avoid boredom, but the tasks must not be too hard, to avoid frustration (basically stretch the learner a little without frightening them to death).

Pitching the instruction at the right level seems to be critical for learner success and what can be a better leveler than a group of peers (learners doing the same course, or previous learners who have completed their study).

Vygotsky’s work is based around the constructivist theories that suggest learners are in charge of their own learning with the help of facilitators, and that using tools such as reciprocal questioning, (where learners work together asking and answering their own questions), jigsaw Classroom, (where learners become "experts" on one aspect of a joint project and teach it to the others in their group), and structured controversies (where learners work together debating a particular controversy) the learner works at their own level within a safe environment with mutual support from his or her peers.

I suggest that this is already available to the techno-savvy generation; they already communicate well, give and receive instant feedback via their peers (try facebook for instant reactions!), collaborate on anything and everything (Wiki, twitter, blogs and podcasts to name just a few) and are more ‘expert’ on the whole multi-dimensional social networking than I could ever be.

Perhaps it’s time for me to recognise that sometimes the learner is in fact the teacher in this relationship.

Learn more about Vygotsky’s theories:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Vygotsky

Tread Softley On My Dreams

I have just spent the most enthralled 17 minutes of my teaching career. I was looking for a bit more information on how connectivism can be used to help a range of students, hoping, I guess, that something would come up and slap me in the face, making everything seem easy. I am so surprised to have found this while I was trolling through blogs and wikis, a lecturer I have never heard of who, just by watching his video, has changed my way of thinking entirely.

He makes a great reference ( about 8 minutes in for those in a hurry) to how we 'oldies' (over 25) take a wrist watch for granted as a means to tell the time, because we are conditioned to do it, after all we were made before the digital age and wouldn't have a clue what time it was without a watch; but how his daughter wouldn't be seen dead with a 'single function device' like our watch. 'Newbies' (under 25) obviously want multi-function, fast and instant access to time data, and their ipod, iphone, web browser, podcast and every other electronic gizmo world allows them to dispence with a watch. So if their ipod, iphone, web browser, podcast and every other electronic gizmo world can allow them to dispense with a watch, then why not allow them to dispense with lectures in favour of multi-media.

This appears to be the fundamentals of connectivism, the lecturer is no longer a 'lecturer' but an agent for change, maybe the way forward is to teach the skills necessary for the learner to find out how to use his or her ipod, iphone, web browser, podcast and every other electronic gizmo, and research the world for themselves.

Have a listen to this guy and see what you think.

Sir Ken Robinson

PERSONAL LEARNING NETWORK

I have been looking for an easy to understand and easily related work on Connectivism. the roots of which appear to be based on social networking rather than me as a lecturer doing the 'know it all teacher' and the student the passive recipient, and here it is. Have a look at this short video and it will show you how easy it seems to connect with others, I expect it isn't quite this simple but imagine if it was. I really like the idea that lecturers no longer lecture but inspire, I can think of a few people in my life that have inspired me to do something better than I thought I could. I would love a student of mine to think of me that way.
Watch and learn http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwM4ieFOotA

connectivism

I was looking at the right learning theory that would let me express how I feel about teaching as well as look at the needs of our learners. And voila there is one that fits nicely into how I feel.

Connectivism

It springs from the ideas of a child psychologist named Vygotsky, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Vygotsky who put forward a theory that we never learn anything from scratch, that even young children grasp a new idea, add it to their existing knowledge and come up with a new thought. I wondered if this relates to adult learners and when I looked closer into connectivism I discovered that it's main ideas support learning as part of a social network, and that this theory sees learners as both consumers and creators, that by actively participating in a collaboration, be it something like blogging or wiki, or just interacting with another learner, they learn what is already known, link it to their own experiences and produce a new and unique idea.

By doing the above process learners can change the content of on-line and collaborative knowledge, keeping the entire body of knowledge current and relevant, it seems a bit like Darwin's theory of evolution, whatever the learner finds relevant they will use, alter, re-create and enhance, information not of use will fall by the wayside and eventually become irrelevant.

Unfortunately the use of blogs, wiki and the like rely on the learner having some knowledge of how to access these media, technology can be daunting to some people but, as in my case, if you give some extra input you can get learners using technology and even enjoying it.

Initially it would take some extra effort by staff and require increased resources, in both time, Internet resources and support staff.

On the up side, connectivism can have benefits to learners through ownership of content, relevant feedback and person to person interaction. If learners can work collaboratively there should be an increase in creative thinkers not just rote learners.

useful links

http://www.connectivism.ca/about.html

http://www.slideshare.net/Downes/connectivism-a-theory-of-personal-learning  A good easy to understand slideshow giving good information.

electronic portfolios post

HI Jenny and the other guys, it is interesting that some of our material requires a high standard of comprehension (i guess) and how we can assume because we can read it confidently the rest should be able to. Our students in vet nursing have a similar problem, the notes can often contain strange language and words a mile long, very of putting to students, we have done a lot of work in re-vamping our written notes to reduce terminology where we can and to introduce ideas in picture, video and interactive forms, all seem to have students engaging more in various topics, the problem we face is we are constrained by unit standards which often want us to assess using written material, where most of our teaching is done in kinesthetic styles because nursing is a 'hands on' profession, i'm sure this causes confusion for the students who learn to 'do' then have to write about doing it. not sure what the answer is?


We are now looking at using things like a portfolio to show evidence of competence, and I remember from my nursing days that attestations from other nurses and colleagues could be counted as evidence (with other bits as well) to show competence, I would be interested if an on-line portfolio might be the answer,showing students doing tasks, getting feedback and reflecting on that feedback (just like we are doing). anybody have any ideas?

Other peoples posts

HI guys, I was reading these posts and thought about what our students want from their particular path of study, I'm sure there are a number out there who want a qualification and some type of career progression, and with the talks of Vet nursing being regulated and having a professional body (may be a while away yet) then there will be more opportunity for students to do just that. but I am sure there are a few who go into the programs for other reasons. I am reminded of a colleague of mine from another life who said he went into Psychiatric Nursing so he would know the signs to look out for if he was 'going mad'. I though about my reasons to do vet nursing and I did want the qualification but I also wanted to know what to do if my animals got sick and how to keep them healthy. I have had some discussion with students who already work in the animal industry and they talk about wanting to know how to deal with XYZ but not necessary wanting to be nurses. I wonder if some research into why students come into courses would help us to provide them with what they want, Gill and I have had discussions about what if students could just do the units that were of interest to them or work through the requirements for a qualification as and when they liked? It would be a logistical nightmare and hard with unit standards but offering short courses epecifically for things like first aid, animal nutrition caring for large/production animals and behaviour units, might be of interest to those who don't want a qulification.




enough rambling!

constructing courses who are our learners? a reply

Thanks guys, i really like the idea of small steps as some of our students come to us straight out of school and have little if any knowledge of what nursing in any form involves, I find that I often have to take students back to the basics of understanding our language (terminology) as this seems to be the thing that frightens them the most, I would love a dollar for every time I have said, 'print this out (i know not very sustainable) stick it to the back of the toilet door so you see it every time you visit and it will stay in your brain" I think you are right Helen I often overlook the need to show students how to study, I can remember my nursing and the first thing we did was a study skills day, where we were shown how to make mind maps, draw pictures to link ideas (my favourite) and stuff like that, It was very helpful.




I think a day before the course showing things like this would help the student to feel part of a group without much pressure and give them an insight into what distance studying really means. I went to the imbedding literacy forum yesterday and was interested in how this is becoming a requirement, but it got me thinking about how we can support more than just literacy and numeracy, I am really interested in how we connect to other people and how they help us to learn, mentoring comes to mind, as I remember my nursing mentor's help, we still keep in touch even though it's 30+ years ago so definitely made a connection there. Going a bit off track but I guess that's the whole idea of forums so we can blurb away and get feedback, bit like blogging I suppose, something I'm also getting into.



Isn't connecting with others great!