Abstract
BackgroundIn German veterinary education interdisciplinary lectures (ILs) are an important and mandatory part of the curriculum as their merging character builds a useful preparation for the future profession as a veterinarian. These lectures should enable students to work on practically‐relevant and interdisciplinary cases, which should ideally be defined jointly by lecturers from different disciplines.MethodsIn order to give students the opportunity to work on these cases and at the same time have contact with their lecturers and fellow students, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, has converted its former in‐class ILs (face‐to‐face delivery format) into a blended learning format. The mandatory lectures comprise 196 curricular hours and are delivered over the course of three semesters within the veterinary curriculum. The new concept was developed over a period of three academic years and extensively evaluated (old‐new‐comparison) with regard to its acceptance and compliance with national requirements for interdisciplinary teaching.ResultsA total of 306 students were asked to evaluate different aspects of the newly implemented format. Overall, more than 79% of the students attending the newly implemented blended learning format responded positively, and the evaluation showed a significant improvement of learning motivation and acceptance when compared to the traditional teaching format.ConclusionThe results indicated that blended learning is a suitable option for teaching mandatory ILs in clinical medicine and veterinary public health.
Highlights
Interdisciplinary teaching in veterinary education is typically characterised by the collaboration of lecturers from different subjects such as pharmacology, internal medicine and animal welfare, which, in the veterinary curriculum, are often taught independently.[1]
196 curricular hours are allocated for an integration of clinical disciplines as well as veterinary public health issues (VPH).[3]
At the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Freie Universität Berlin (VM-FUB), interdisciplinary lectures (ILs) were mostly offered as traditional face-to-face lectures (180 min) in third and fourth year
Summary
Interdisciplinary teaching in veterinary education is typically characterised by the collaboration of lecturers from different subjects such as pharmacology, internal medicine and animal welfare, which, in the veterinary curriculum, are often taught independently.[1]. 196 curricular hours are allocated for an integration of clinical disciplines as well as veterinary public health issues (VPH).[3] the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (EAEVE) recommends Day One Competences which should be considered when developing ILs. At the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Freie Universität Berlin (VM-FUB), ILs were mostly offered as traditional face-to-face lectures (180 min) in third and fourth year (of a five-year curriculum). In German veterinary education interdisciplinary lectures (ILs) are an important and mandatory part of the curriculum as their merging character builds a useful preparation for the future profession as a veterinarian. These lectures should enable students to work on practically-relevant and interdisciplinary cases, which should ideally be defined jointly by lecturers from different disciplines. Conclusion: The results indicated that blended learning is a suitable option for teaching mandatory ILs in clinical medicine and veterinary public health
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