Development of Online Teaching and Learning Tools for the Delivery of Poultry Food Safety in the Veterinary Curriculum

Introduction: The teaching of food safety aspects in the veterinary curriculum at the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science (SVMS), University of Nottingham, is delivered as part of the veterinary public health (VPH) module. Curriculum constraints and logistics of the course resulted in using the full length of the contact time allocated for poultry teaching on practical activities, while the theory was delivered as podcast sessions. Feedback on the practical activities has been consistently positive, but podcast sessions are not considered as an encouraging learning experience by students. As it is recognized that the new generation of students, generation Y, benefits from a higher level of engagement in its learning process it was proposed to produce interactive online resources for the poultry food safety teaching in VPH.

Purpose: To enhance students’ learning experience and perceptions by using online tools to deliver the theory of poultry food safety for veterinary students.

Methods: The learning management system, Moodle, was used as the platform for designing and producing the teaching material. The material was embedded with audio visual resources already available on YouTube and pictures from the SVMS photo database in the image hosting website Flickr. A questionnaire was produced and distributed to gather students’ feedback.

Results: By providing a more interactive experience students felt more engaged in their teaching/learning process. Additionally, the ongoing access to the study material through the university portal allowed students to organize their own revision times. However, some students felt that they would benefit better from a printable version of the material.

Significance: The new teaching/learning resources produced for the delivery of poultry food safety provided a more fulfilling teaching/learning experience to the students. Additionally, by replacing the podcast sessions with interactive online material, the teaching resources can be modified in a more time-efficient fashion whenever updates are required. Moreover, this format will reduce the reliance of the school on external deliverers.