Practical classes: a platform for deep learning? Overall context in the first-year veterinary curriculum.

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Education
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• First-year veterinary curricula incorporate diverse practical formats, including laboratory work, live animals, cadavers, and digital tools.
• Understanding student learning approaches is crucial for optimizing practical class design and effectiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate student perceptions of various practical formats in a first-year veterinary program.
• To investigate the relationship between student learning approaches (deep, surface, strategic) and their engagement with different practical class types.
• To identify specific behaviors and attitudes associated with deep learning in practical settings.

Main Methods:

• A questionnaire assessed 24 practical classes, student learning approaches (Approaches to Study Inventory), and 13 behaviors/attitudes.
• Data were collected from 69 first-year veterinary students in their final term.
• Statistical analysis correlated practical class ratings with learning approach scores and behaviors.

Main Results:

• Practical classes involving live animals and cadavers received the highest positive ratings.
• Laboratory-based practical classes showed associations with deep and surface learning scores, despite generally lower ratings.
• Positive correlations were found between deep learning and specific behaviors/attitudes within practical classes (p=0.0001).

Conclusions:

• Veterinary students generally favor practical classes with live animals or cadavers.
• Student learning approaches appear to influence engagement with laboratory-based practicals more than with animal-based ones.
• Different practical formats may foster distinct types of student engagement and learning.