Development and Evaluation of a Virtual Barn Tour in Swine Medicine

The shortage of livestock veterinarians is a pressing issue in Germany and worldwide. To address this problem, the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany, developed a digital-teaching module for swine medicine. The module, designed for first- and third-semester students, aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of swine medicine and animal husbandry. It consists of five 360° virtual barn tours of different pig farms, interactive questions, and case studies. The study evaluates the module's effectiveness in increasing students' knowledge and understanding of swine medicine. Results demonstrate that the module has a positive impact on students' knowledge, with the average number of correct answers increasing from 8.6 (of 14) in the pretest to 13.2 in the posttest. Knowledge improvement was measured using identical multiple-choice questions before and after module completion. Participants experienced a significant knowledge gain, especially those with less prior experience in the pig sector benefiting more from the module than those with more experience. The experience level had a significant effect on response behavior (p = 0.0267); participants with moderate experience (Level 2) chose the response category I don't know significantly less often than those with the highest experience level (Level 4; p = 0.035). The results show that such a digital-teaching module has a high acceptance level among students. The study's findings are relevant for developing teaching materials in veterinary medicine. The study also highlights the importance of incorporating digital-teaching methods into veterinary education, particularly in swine medicine.