At the University of Nottingham, all third year veterinary students must complete the Veterinary Public Health Module which includes a study of outbreak investigations. Historically, this has been challenging to teach in a realistic way which engages the students and gives them room to think and try different approaches. Consequently, students often complain that these sessions are inflexible and "painting by numbers". It was with this in mind that Robert Atterbury (School of Veterinary Medicine & Science) and Fay Cross (Learning Technology) began development on a new ‘scenario’ Xerte template. Students investigate a fictional outbreak of salmonella linked to a farm, working to a budget to collect samples and order a series of laboratory tests in an attempt to locate the source of the outbreak.
This session will include a demonstration of the bespoke ‘scenario’ Xerte template and show the potential for similar scenario-based digital learning content to be created and used in other disciplines.