Impact of veterinary students' preparation and learning strategies on academic success in a flipped swine medicine course

Abstract

IntroductIon Flipped classrooms are designed so that students prepare before class, studying concepts and memorizing key points, to be able to participate in active-learning activities within the classroom. Students are thus expected to attain the lowest levels of Bloom's taxonomy, such as memorizing and understanding, through individual work at home, to be able to apply this new knowledge in class. Faculty members may elect to provide study materials in a large variety of ways but the majority tend to lean toward giving access to diverse types of material to review before class. A survey of veterinary faculty showed that 65% of them expected their students to review materials before class, either paper based or online, and only 16% included active learning-type activities to be completed before class. [1] Using a flipped classroom model led to increased engagement and greater satisfaction with learning resources in Australian preveterinary students. [2] In this same study, the flipped classroom model had a positive effect on students' academic performance as demonstrated by an increase in the class Background: Flipped teaching techniques have been gaining popularity in veterinary curricula. These methods of teaching are shown to increase students' engagement, promote students' self-directed learning, and can even improve their academic success. One barrier to their implementation, however, is the preparation time required by instructors to be ready to participate in active-learning activities in the classroom. Aims and Objectives: This article describes how 3 rd-year veterinary students prepare for a flipped classroom and if their learning strategies would influence their academic success. Results: Ninety-five percent (n = 87) of the students enjoyed the flipped course and the resources provided by the instructor. Seventy-five percent of students (n = 69) used the time blocked-off on their calendar to prepare for this course or to study for another one. The most student-used resources were the instructor-developed e-book and short recapitulative videos (98% and 61%, respectively). Students who emphasized critical thinking and effort regulation as their learning strategies were the most successful on their final examination. Conclusion: Flipping the course without adding to student's workload was a challenge and remained a main barrier to implementation.

Distance Education in Veterinary Medicine: History, Current Situation, and Future Perspectives (a Systematic Review)

“…Content can be made available via the internet, and class time is dedicated for the teacher to guide and monitor the learning process. This methodology EaD em Foco,2022, 1(1): e1635 | 2 has been proved as effective in VM, increasing the student's engagement, autonomy and practical kills development (DOOLEY et al, 2018;DECLOEDT et al, 2020;DOOLEY, 2020;JIMÉNEZ;PEÑA MERINO;CURAY, 2020;LONDGREN et al, 2020;ZHITNITSKIY, 2020;SUKUT et al, 2021).…”

“…It has been seen that lack of hands-on training could decrease the technical skills performance and confidence(WINDER et al, 2017;WARD;MULHERIN; VENGRIN, 2021). On the other hand, although some online materials have shown improved outcomes, not all the online resources have shown positive results comparing with traditional methodologies(ARAUZ et al, 2021;THIEMAN MANKIN et al, 2021).Among the major limitations for the institutions to start using DE is the time necessary for preparing DE classes and the needed didactic resources, because good quality video production is expensive, educational content development commonly needs programming and design professionals, and creating good quality resources takes many hours (ALLENSPACH; BELL;WHITTLESTONE, 2008;ROSHIER;FOSTER;JONES, 2011;MÜLLER et al, 2019;ZHITNITSKIY, 2020;WARD;MULHERIN; VENGRIN, 2021). DE may have higher dropout rates than traditional education, commonly related with low quality resources, lack of technology knowledge or poor student support among other factors that may affect students' motivation and learning(VARNHAGEN;WRIGHT, 2008).…”