ROYAL (DICK) SCHOOL OF VETERINARY STUDIES
LEARNING AND TEACHING COMMITTEE
Open Meeting of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies
Learning and Teaching Committee
held on Wednesday 18 September in G.01, NVS
MINUTES
Present: Susan Rhind (Chair), Juliette Duncan, Caroline Hahn, Susan Orr (minutes), Danielle Gunn-Moore, Gura Bergkvist,
Eoghan Clarkson, Simone Meddle, Kay Aitchison, Rachel Whittington, Neil Hudson, Geoff Pearson, Ian Handel, Stacy
Eastman (President, VSC), Elizabeth Blair-McKinnon (GEP class rep), Geraldine Giannopoulous
1.
Apologies
Apologies were received from Catriona Bell, Carolyn Morton, Sally Argyle, Claire Phillips & Andrew Gardiner.
2.
Minutes of meeting held on 7 August 2013
The minutes were approved as a correct record.
3.
Matters Arising (not considered elsewhere on agenda)
There were no matters arising.
For Discussion
4.
Proposed Final Year Timetable for 15/16 (Paper 1)
The proposed timetable for Year 5 in 15/16 contained the same number of weeks of teaching per student although the
summer break would be extended by one week. Final year would begin before the summer break and resit exams for
Year 4 students would take place during the final year prep phase at the end of Year 4 so that progression into final
year was confirmed before Year 5 began. These aspects had been previously extensively discussed at year 5 review
meetings and LTC.
5.
Role of External Examiner
For the first time the school was starting to receive enquiries after exam boards (specifically parents and students
questioning exam board decisions) consistent with input from assessment consultants. This was a recognised
phenomenon in medical schools hence it was more important than ever to have transparency and robustness about the
processes of exam boards and the role of the external examiner. It was necessary to be clear and consistent across all
courses regarding the decision making process for marks, in particular for borderline cases and this was a work in
progress for a document to go to the next meeting of LTC.
ACTION: SMR and LD
6.
Post course surveys: format & traffic light system on responses (Paper 2)
The standard template for post course student surveys had been revised to ensure that the questions were in line with
those asked in the National Student Survey and to ensure that the feedback received allowed for comparative analysis
across courses. The suggested format allowed for free text additions but also for standard, quantifiable data. The last
revision of these questionnaires had produced a cumbersome template that did not encourage student completion.
It was suggested by the student representatives that asking students to complete online surveys after exams was not
ideal and that a better response rate might be achieved if paper surveys were handed out in the final class of each
course.
Page | 1
ACTION: all Semester 1 courses in 13/14 would use the new standard format for post course surveys. A small
number of courses may be asked to pilot using paper surveys instead of online surveys. The implications of using
paper surveys for administrative staff would be considered.
7.
Report from LTC sub-group: response to External Examiner reports (Paper 13)
A sub-group consisting of SMR, LD and the Year Directors had met to discuss the External Examiner reports and Course
Organiser responses. Six themes had been identified as needing a response. The attached paper would be published
on EEVeC and External Examiners invited to view it.
8.
NSS & PTES update: https://www.wiki.ed.ac.uk/display/sur/National+Student+Survey (Papers 3a/3b/3c)
The attached papers showed the 2012 National Student Survey results for the 5 year BVMS programme & the GEP
programme, compared with previous years. Overall results for both programmes were better than in 2011, with both 5
year and GEP programmes showing a significant rise in overall satisfaction. However assessment, feedback and
personal development scores had fallen slightly.
The President of the VSC noted that GEP students could sometimes feel disconnected from students on the Year 5
programme. It was agreed that NSS would be discussed at a VSC meeting in the future.
The results of the Post Graduate Taught Experience Survey were excellent across all areas and top in the University and
the PGT team were congratulated on this outstanding result.
9.
Publication of QA documents (Paper 4)
The attached paper listed seven QA course-specific documents which had previously been published on EEVeC. Each
document had been reviewed as to whether it was to be published on EEVeC and who would have access to view it.
This would take into account both data protection and freedom of information considerations.
ACTION: LTC approved the attached paper. The section on free text comments would be amended to clarify how
this information was shared with the course team.
For Information
10. Dates for 13/14 Board of Examiners: https://www.eevec.vet.ed.ac.uk/secure/page.asp?ID=ev000090
This information would be updated and published at the beginning of each academic year.
11. Update & changes to Feedback & Special Circumstances: www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/academicservices/policies-regulations/new-policies & https://www.eevec.vet.ed.ac.uk/secure/page.asp?ID=ei700000
University regulations now stated that students would be provided with formative feedback for every taught course
within 15 working days or in time to be useful for the next assignment (whichever was sooner).
At the start of the academic year, students would be informed about the timetable for the return of summative marks.
Marks would not be amended due to Special Circumstances. Special Circumstance Committee decisions were binding
and the Board of Examiners must follow them in all but exceptional cases.
Feedback deadlines would be published on EEVeC and the return of feedback would be carefully monitored to ensure
deadlines were being met.
12. Student Survey Overview Group: update on current projects (Paper 5)
The Student Survey Overview Group had been set up to ensure that cohorts of students were not overwhelmed by
requests to complete research surveys. Information on how to request approval for a survey was available on the WIKI
at https://www.wiki.ed.ac.uk/display/VED/How+To+Request+Approval+For+New+Surveys. LTC were provided with the
overview for information of the current status of projects.
Page | 2
13. BVMS Assessment Rules (Paper 11)
The assessment rules would be revised annually and circulated to all staff. It was necessary to have tightly controlled
processes for assessment and feedback. Further work was being carried out on methods for standard setting (see item
16:e).
For Approval
14. Exam Boards
a.
Samantha Woods and Ian Handel were approved as additions to the membership of the Clinical Foundation
Course Exam Board for 13/14.
b. Neil Mabbott from the Roslin Institute was approved as the Chair of the Animal Body 1 Exam Board with
immediate effect
15. External Examiners:
a.
Nigel Goode was reappointed for a fifth year as External Examiner for Animal Body 1 (end date: September
2014) (Papers 6a & 6b: CLOSED).
b. Jenny Hammond’s appointment as External Examiner for the now-extinct CLIC course was transferred to the
Professional & Clinical Skills course as of 13/14 (Papers 7a & 7b: CLOSED).
c.
Rory Bell’s appointment as External Examiner for SSC1 was extended for a fourth year (end date: September
2014).
16. Curriculum Items:
a.
Changes to Animal Body 3: Metabolism section (Paper 8)
The requested change was approved.
b. Additional DNA practical (Year 1)
This addition had been submitted to LTC on 7 August (Paper 4) and had been approved. The new practical
would require an additional hour for students (2 x 2 hours instead of 1 x 2 hours).
c.
Year 4 exam dates 2013/14 & ICU
Issues had arisen from the timetabling of the Year 4 exams for 13/14, which had been moved from before
Christmas to after the break. This would impact on students on ICU placement or travelling back from
overseas. It had been decided that the exams would be timetabled for the end of the first week back and that
ICU placements over vacation time would no longer be mandatory.
d. Resit Exam Dates Years 1&2
A request had been made to move the timing of the Year 1 & 2 resit exams to earlier in August due to a clash
with GEP anatomy teaching and preparing for spot exams. There was little support for this change from a
range of academic staff and admin staff who had responded to a request for input into the decision.
ACTION: this request was not approved.
e.
Assessment Standard Settings (Paper 12)
The attached (draft) paper outlined how standard settings would be used to make decisions about distinctions
and borderlines and to assist exam boards in considering overall mark profiles for cohorts of students. A
further document would follow giving practical step by step guidance on interpreting Speedwell statistics and
standard setting using the Hofstee method.
Page | 3
f.
Interpretation exam paper AB2
An increase in time from 1.5 to 2 hours had been requested for the Animal Body 2 interpretation exam.
ACTION: approved.
Standing Items
17. Staff Updates (Paper 9)
The attached paper for information listed all new starts and leavers since July 2013.
18. House & Personal Tutor Update
GP reported that the recruitment of Personal Tutors for 13/14 was complete & 11 new Personal Tutors had been
inducted. Some of these were Roslin staff so would not be taking a full load of students.
19. VSC
The next meeting of the VSC was scheduled for October.
20. Library Report
There were no updates.
21. Admissions Report
The next meeting of the Admissions Committee would be on 25 September. The new cohort of Year 1 students on the
5 Year BVMS had begun the programme on the 16 September. There were 73 SFC funded students (36 SEU and 37
RUK) and 46 fully funded students.
GG reported that there would be a change in the interview format for the next admissions cycle and this would be
discussed at the 25 September meeting. The deadline for 14/15 applications was 15 October.
The new Open Days (in line with the rest of the University) were working well and the next Open Day would be on 28
September.
A new BVMS booklet of entry requirements would be available online by the end of September.
It was suggested that there was a growing need to offer advice to students with regard to employment prospects for
their chosen area. A brief summary of this was given in Year 1 but it would be helpful to continue to offer light-touch
guidance, especially ahead of EMS placements.
22. Digital Education Unit Report
EC had been approached by the Head of Learning Services to take part in a college e-learning review and had submitted
a report from the Digital Education Unit.
Further LEARN training for staff would be organised and would take the format of smaller workshops focusing on
specific LEARN tools.
The Unit were assisting with WikiVeT registrations (http://en.wikivet.net/Veterinary_Education_Online). Colleagues
were advised not to use their @ed email address for registration as there had been problems with this.
23. EEVeC Liaison Group: notes from meeting on 2 Sept at https://www.eevec.vet.ed.ac.uk/secure/page.asp?ID=si000500
24. QA update
There were no updates.
Page | 4
25. Clinical Skills Committee report
The Large Animal Clinical Skills Lab was almost set up, and there were new calving simulators arriving from Canada
within the next month.
26. Progression Committee report (Paper 10)
GP reported that 36 students had been seen.
27. Student Support & Advisory Group report
The Notes of Concern system was working well: there had been more than 60 Notes of Concern raised in Semester 2,
2012/13. Any member of staff or student was able to raise a Note of Concern although students were advised to
discuss this with their Personal Tutor first. The identity of the person who raised a Note would not be visible to the
student concerned.
28. Intercalating students
SM reported that a meeting had been held with the returning students who had intercalated in 12/13. These students
were interested in starting a journal club and would be talking about their experiences of intercalating at the Vet Choice
Day on 13 October.
There was no longer any Wellcome Trust funding for intercalating students, although the Hardship fund was still an
option.
SM confirmed that an MSc could be intercalated between year 3 and Year 4, but not between Year 4 and Year 5. It was
possible to intercalate a BSc between Year 4 and Year 5.
Information on intercalated degree choices would be provided to BVMS applicants.
29. EMS Committee & Updates
There were no updates.
30. Accrediting body issues
a.
RCVS & AVMA Report
The RCVS and AVMA annual returns were due to be returned within the next couple of months. LTC would get
oversight of these.
b. NAVLE
There were no updates.
31. Report from University/College Committees/Educational Meetings:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Resits and Supplementary Assessment Standards Working Group
Employability Strategy Group
http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/academic-services/committees
http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/medicine-vet-medicine/staff-students/staff/committees
32. AOB
There was no other business.
33. Date of next meeting: Wednesday 30th October, 2pm, Boardroom
Page | 5