Susan Rhind

The relatively recent emergence of generative AI (GenAI) tools and their potential to influence many aspects of faculty and student experiences requires rapid insight into these tools’ current uses, perceived challenges, and opportunities. A survey-based study was carried out with faculty at two UK veterinary schools to gain insight into current usage rates, confidence, concerns, and suggestions for both faculty development and curriculum in relation to GenAI. A total of 121 surveys were completed (∼20% response rate). Likert scale items were statistically analyzed and free-text data were coded and analyzed for themes. Twenty-five percent of faculty reported never having used GenAI tools; the median usage across both schools was once a month or less. Faculty uses included help with writing, creation of teaching materials and assessments, support for research, support more broadly for their academic role, and, where relevant, use in clinical work. Faculty had the lowest confidence in data privacy and security and application to clinical care regardless of whether they were clinically active or not. Concerns included lack of trust in the output, need for more training, and concern about erosion of skills—for both themselves and students. Additional training and support were considered essential across all proposed domains of competence and likewise for students within the curriculum. The study confirms the need for urgent implementation of contextualized faculty development initiatives, alongside curriculum evolution and aligned student guidance and support. A domain-based model for faculty development is proposed.

Although research into differences in how university teachers conceive of teaching has yielded valuable pedagogical insights, important questions remain about the interrelationship between conceptions and practices and the influence of contemporary teaching-learning environments. Focusing specifically on the context of large-class STEMM teaching, this study investigated the conceptions of sixteen STEMM lecturers, adopting a phenomenographic, interview-based methodology. Four conceptions were differentiated: large-class STEMM teaching as presentation; as guided learning and individual reflection; as active participation in a community of learning; and as the promotion of metacognition beyond the curriculum. These conceptions were further dissected in terms of three dimensions of variation comprising interactivity, the role of students, and aims of large STEMM classes. The findings also showed that the teachers' conceptions needed to be understood in relation both to contextual factors and to the extent to which they felt different strategies were accomplishable in particular settings.

The higher education community is currently experiencing a significant sense of disruption due to the emergence of Generative AI (GenAI) tools. This study sought to establish baseline data that encompass usage rates, confidence, concerns, and opinions on aligned curriculum interventions from current students studying veterinary medicine in the United Kingdom across two institutions. A survey including items aligned to a series of published curriculum domains was designed and distributed to all students in two veterinary degree programmes. A total of 285 surveys (15.5%) were completed; students with a previous degree and older students were more likely to complete the survey. Likert scale items were analysed statistically, and free text data were coded and analysed for themes. In this survey, 40% of students reported never having used GenAI tools, and the median usage across both schools was once a month or less. Greater value was placed on additional curriculum support in relation to AI with age and previous higher educational experience. Key uses of GenAI were grouped into the following: Consolidation, Clarification, and Revision; Creation (Content, Ideas, and Alternative Formats); Grammar and Editing; and Social Uses. Key concerns included Environmental Issues and Sustainability, Accuracy and Trustworthiness of Information; Data Security and Ethics; Impact on Individuals and Society; and Academic Misconduct and Cheating. This study confirms that veterinary students in the United Kingdom appear to be slower to engage with GenAI technologies compared with other higher education students. They appear particularly attuned to the environmental impact of GenAI technologies. The professional nature of the program together with the assessment frameworks that typically exist may also be influencing the degree of students’ willingness to engage with the technology.

Competency frameworks in medical and veterinary medical education highlight the importance of research within curricula to ensure a sound understanding of research and related principles of evidence-based medicine. This study describes topic themes and geographical location of projects carried out by students over a 14-year period as part of a well-embedded research element (the student research component) within a veterinary curriculum. The study explores faculty and student opinions on competences gained, aligned with the American Veterinary Medical Association and Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons core competences, and describes challenges encountered from both perspectives. A survey including items aligned to core research competences was distributed to all final-year students in a veterinary degree program. An aligned survey was distributed to project supervisors. The surveys contained a mixture of Likert scale and free-text items. Thirty-two percent of students and 46% of supervisors completed the survey. Likert scale items were analyzed statistically, and free-text data were coded and analyzed for themes. The study confirms the utility of research projects in supporting the development of core competences; students recognize their potential in highlighting awareness of their own limitations, while supervisors highlight their utility in the development of report writing and critical appraisal skills. Supervisor communication was recognized as a challenge for students, as were time management and generating project ideas. Supervisors considered that critical review and evaluation of evidence competences were developed to a greater extent than did all students in the study. Supervisors considered that students had gained all the research-based competences to a greater extent than graduate students, with the exception of improving their own awareness of their limitations. The study confirms a mismatch in faculty and student opinions on the competences gained through carrying out research projects and the value placed on these projects. Additional success factors are suggested in support of similar curriculum interventions.

Teachers’ beliefs are an important factor affecting teaching practice and understanding them is critical for planning successful professional development support. However, relatively little research on conceptions has focussed on the teaching of large classes, despite the fact that large classes are central to STEM teaching provision in higher education. There has also been a lack of research investigating the nature of those beliefs, such as how they change and how context dependent they are. This study explores teachers’ conceptions of teaching large STEM classes from two perspectives. Firstly, sixteen STEM lecturers were interviewed about their experiences of teaching a large class using a phenomenographic approach through which four conceptions of teaching were identified: 1) Teaching as presentation 2) Teaching as guided learning and individual reflection 3) Teaching as active participation in the learning community 4) Teaching as promoting metacognition beyond the curriculum. Three dimensions of variation describe the differences between these conceptions: interactivity, the role of students, and the aim of the class. A secondary analysis of the interview data showed that teachers’ conceptions are context dependent, that they may hold multiple conceptions at the same time, and they can be aware of higher conceptions without adhering to them themselves.

This is the 3rd edition of ‘A Guide to Assessment in Veterinary Medical Education’. The current edition continues the aims of the original version and uses a similar format as well as embracing the increased interest in assessment within the veterinary education community and the many relevant developments in medical and veterinary education in the interim. The guide begins with an overview of the principles of assessment, challenges and terminology including reference to Miller’s pyramid and Bloom’s taxonomy. The next section ‘Assessment Methods’ contains short summaries of a range of methods commonly used in veterinary and medical assessment. As in the previous editions (2008, 2014), the subsections ‘ascend’ Miller’s pyramid from ‘Knows’ and ‘Knows How’ to ‘Shows’ and finally ‘Does’. The final section ‘Additional Key concepts and Recent Developments’ has been expanded and provides an overview of key concepts in addition to new sections reflecting the research and developments in assessment since the last edition was published.

Lectures are a commonly used teaching method in higher education, but there is significant debate about the relative merits of different classroom practices. Various classroom observation tools have been developed to try to give insight into these practices, beyond the simple dichotomy of “traditional lecturing versus active learning”. Here we review of a selection of classroom observation protocols from an ethological perspective, and describe how this informed the development of a new protocol, FILL+. We demonstrate that FILL+ can be applied reliably by undergraduate students after minimal training. We analysed a sample of 208 lecture recordings from Mathematics, Physics, and Veterinary Medicine and found a wide variety of classroom practices, e.g. on average lecturers spent 2.1% (±2.6%) of the time asking questions, and 79.3% (±19%) of the lecture talking, but individuals varied considerably. The FILL+ protocol has the potential to be widely used, both in research on effective teaching practices, and in informing discussion of pedagogical approaches within institutions and disciplines.