Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | Distance learning equivalent of 20 x 1h lectures (20 hours) |
| Other | Guided reading, assessed on-line forums, interactive workbooks and quizzes |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Forum posts | 25% |
| Semester Assessment | Presentation on an aspect of ruminant health and welfare | 30% |
| Semester Assessment | Essay on an aspect of ruminant health and welfare | 45% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Students must take elements of assessment equivalent to those that led to the failure of the module | 100% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Compare the current methods of assessing and improving ruminant health and welfare.
2. Judge the potential economic implications of poor health and welfare.
3. Evaluate the different methods of improving welfare and controlling disease for their chosen pathway.
4. Assess the potential future benefits to ruminant health and welfare of current and future research.
Brief description
The module will teach students about current methods of disease control and welfare improvement in ruminants. The module will draw upon the ongoing research in IBERS and elsewhere to provide the students with the knowledge they require to understand the latest scientific evidence. The module will take the students through our current understanding and methods for measuring ruminant health and welfare to ensure they have similar level of understanding before offering the students a sheep, beef or dairy pathway to focus on in the second half of the module. In each pathway the students will learn about the latest research and discuss the theories behind the latest research into improving efficiency and sustainability of ruminant production through better health and welfare.
Aims
To outline the fundamental health and welfare issues that underpin ruminant production and look at the recent research in to these areas.
Content
- Controlling diseases in the UK
- Basic principles of nutrition
- Animal welfare in the UK
- Methods of control
- Measuring Welfare
- Improving Welfare
- Economically significant diseases
- Diagnosis
- Methods of control
- Challenges of the future
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | Ration formulation and balancing will be looked at in the module. |
| Communication | Students will be expected to be able to express themselves appropriately in their assignments. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Detailed feedback will be given for assignment work. This will be assessed through the feedback providing general guidance towards the student's next assignment. Especially with the formative assignment that will be due before any summative assignments. |
| Information Technology | Students will be required to source information from a variety of scientific publication data bases and to use Blackboard for all aspects of the module. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | This module will provide the students with the latest research into ruminant health and welfare to help them provide the most up-to-date information/advice to their colleagues/clients in the agri-food industry. |
| Problem solving | Online forum posts will be used to help develop and improve students problem solving skills, through use of questions that present theoretical problems for the students to solve. |
| Research skills | Students will be required to undergo directed self-study and so will develop their literature research skills. |
| Subject Specific Skills | The research methodology of ruminant disease control and the issues surrounding the accurate measuring of ruminant welfare. |
| Team work | Online assessments will require students to debate among themselves to develop a consensus of opinion. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 7