A meristemic approach to the design of small ruminant modules in veterinary education

Abstract

The word “meristem” is applied to plants as a region of growth. In this study, a veterinary curriculum in small stock is assessed from a meristemic approach, as a form of biomimicry applied to education. The word meristemic is a novel portmanteau (or blended word) derived from “meristematic” (a region of actively dividing cells) and “epistemic” (relating to knowledge). A curriculum needs to allow for areas of growth and acknowledge that students cannot carry all the necessary information with them throughout their studies and future career. This means that throughout their studies, students can learn only the necessary and relevant information and can build on such knowledge depending on what fields they chose. Thus, it is important to follow an approach based on meristems to curriculum design. This will allow students opportunities to increase knowledge and practical experience in the correct sequence during the degree and then also later in the workplace. This thesis provides a method for including meristems in a curriculum and for this purpose focusses on the small ruminant modules of the BVSc degree at the University of Pretoria. Meristemic is therefore defined as allowing areas of growth specifically related to knowledge or skills. A meristemic approach is defined as an approach using meristems as a basis for growth and is referred to in this thesis as the approach used for refining curriculum design. In this study, the method for applying a meristemic approach has been set out as a guide for use in refining curriculum design. In conceptualising the meristemic approach, a number of existing curriculum design models were evaluated. The backward design was found to be the best fit for the veterinary science degree. Other models such as ADDIE are also useful in curriculum design. However, none of the models met the requirements of the researcher to be able to refine the curriculum once designed. As a curriculum is constantly reviewed to ensure that specific requirements are met, the researcher wanted to find an approach that could be used to refine a curriculum without having to completely redesign it. The meristemic approach begins with the development of the module using the backwards design of meeting day one competencies (DOCs) of a new graduate in veterinary science. Once the curriculum is in place, aspects of the ADDIE design model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation) are used to refine this curriculum. These aspects include “Analysis” of the current curriculum (Step 1), “Implementation” which is divided into two steps in the meristemic approach (Step 2 where assessment is critically evaluated to determine whether the DOCs are being met, and Step 3 to determine whether practical content can be beneficial to the student within a particular module) and “Evaluation” where the mode of delivery of content is evaluated to determine whether face-to-face, online or a blended approach is best for specific modules (Step 4). Once these steps have been followed, nodes (meristems) can be identified within the modules. These modules are then pruned back to the nodes that were identified in order to allow for growth within the module. Once this has been done, the process may be repeated at any time without having to redesign the entire curriculum and each module within the curriculum can be refined at a time that is convenient for the staff members involved in that module and not at a predetermined time as would be the case in redesigning of an entire curriculum. With each use of the meristemic approach, new nodes will be identified as new information or techniques are presented within each discipline. The first step of the meristemic approach is to critically reflect on the current curriculum. As the researcher is primarily involved in small ruminants, and a thorough critical reflection of the entire veterinary degree is outside of the scope of this thesis, the focus is specifically on two of the small ruminant modules, but can be applied to other modules within the degree. These two modules are evaluated in terms of a set of criteria that were discussed during a workshop on curriculum design. The second step is to evaluate the assessment methods used. The assessment in the fifth year of the degree was used for this purpose and was assessed in terms of setting cut-scores, the level of knowledge required to complete the assessment and which of the day one competencies the assessment was able to cover. This study also revealed the relationships between cut scores, cognitive level and the number of day one competencies addressed. Expert judges set cut-scores using a modified Angoff method. This study revealed that the best criteria to use for choosing expert judges to set these cut-scores (when convening a large group of judges is not possible) is the proportion of time spent by the practitioner in the relevant discipline. The number of day one competencies covered by each question is directly correlated to the cognitive level of each question. Thus, cognitive level is an important consideration when setting cut scores and can be related to the number of day one competencies addressed. Judges were also used to determine the relevance of each of the assessment questions to allow the researcher to align the level of the module within the meristem as being foundational knowledge, core knowledge or specialist knowledge. The third step of the meristemic approach is to determine the importance of practical training in the curriculum and how the practical training can benefit student learning even within theoretical modules. The content of the assessment (and thus the modules) is evaluated and students’ performance in a theoretical assessment is compared to practitioners’ performance. The research was performed in this manner as the students had little practical experience compared to the practitioners who rely on practical experience to reinforce the theoretical training. This assists in determining whether more practical components of the degree can improve students’ theoretical knowledge. The results showed that it is essential to include the practical components from an early stage in the curriculum as practical clinical experience assists in cementing the theoretical knowledge gained. Veterinarians with the greatest number of years’ experience and who spent the majority of their time within the specific discipline outperformed the students with only theoretical knowledge and colleagues with fewer years’ experience and time spent in the field. The fourth and last step in the meristemic approach is to determine how the content of the various modules should be delivered. It is determined whether face-to-face contact time during a pre-clinical module is necessary, or whether a self-directed learning approach will provide an adequate learning opportunity to enable students to integrate the acquired knowledge. The method of teaching is evaluated considering other variables such as the lecturer, topics, cognitive levels and student attitude towards a self-directed learning approach. This study showed that the method of teaching did not affect student scores. However, the topic of the content, the cognitive level and student attitudes towards self-directed learning affected student scores. It is important to note though that as cognitive levels were not consistent across topics, this could have influenced the outcome of the model. The scope of the meristemic approach is much wider than what can be addressed in a single thesis. As such, certain choices were made, and the thesis focused on those elements that were explained above. The meristemic approach is shown in a stepwise approach and this approach can be applied to any curriculum. Through this approach nodes or meristems are identified and these are used when developing specialist degrees. Thus, biomimicry can be successfully used in the form of a meristemic approach to assist academics in determining content and delivery within the design of a curriculum in order to distinguish foundational, core and specialist competencies. Further research is needed on the multitude of oth