Potential benefits and complexities of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) programme for veterinary practitioners

B M Maheswari and N K Sudeep Kumar*

Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Extension and Entrepreneurship, Madras
* Veterinary College, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai - 600 007, India
drmahevet@yahoo.co.in

Abstract

This study was conducted on Open and Distance Learning (ODL) programme by veterinary university, Chennai for veterinary practitioners in Erode, Salem and Coimbatore districts of Tamil Nadu, India. In order to conduct the study, field veterinarians working in the public veterinary dispensaries / hospitals were selected as control group and experimental group for the study. The data was collected using a pre-tested questionnaire. Perception of participants towards the usefulness of ODL programme on increasing knowledge and skill level was analyzed. Based on mean and standard deviation, respondents were distributed as low, medium and high levels. The difference in knowledge and skill was also subjected to ‘Z’ test to know the test of significance.

It was observed from the study that the perception of participants towards the course contents such as chest examination, abdominal examination and rumen fluid examinations were both’ refreshed old knowledge’ and ‘added new knowledge’. Whereas perception on skill gained among participants towards chest examination and selection of anthelmintic therapy were both ‘refreshed old skill’ and’ added new skill’. It could be observed that an overwhelming majority of participants (97.50 per cent) had medium to high level of knowledge whereas the majority of non-participants possessed low to medium level of knowledge (92.50 per cent). And it was also observed that most of the participants (85.00 per cent) had medium to high level of skill whereas majority of the non-participants (85.00 per cent) had low to medium level of ‘improved skill’. The difference between participants and non-participants in terms of knowledge level was highly significant (probability <1). However the difference between participants and non-participants between skill level was found to be non-significant. Thus it could be concluded that the participants possessed significantly higher knowledge than the non-participants which could be ascribed to their exposure to the ODL programme.

The results of this study may serve as a guide to the veterinary institutions for planning ODL programmes for veterinary practitioners especially in developing countries and executing the distance education course contents, so as to effectively achieve the purpose of enhancing livestock production and better service to the animals.

Key words: effectiveness of ODL, field veterinarians, knowledge level, skill level, veterinary practitioners

Introduction

Education is an essential component of development in the society. As the President of the Commonwealth of Learning and former Vice-Chancellor of the UK Open University, Sir John Daniels (2005), stated that “education offers the best strategy to break the cycle of poverty, misery and violence”. Both formal and non-formal education programmes are essential for job security and for reducing poverty, unemployment and rural-urban migration.

The distance education programme has revolutionized the present mode of education mainly aiming at development of human resources to improve the quality of life of the people. The growing population of a country demands a system of education which brings the learning to the doorsteps of the learner. As a result, the major percentage of population living in remote areas, working in the offices and involved in business and agriculture get benefited. Since the establishment of the School of correspondence courses and continuing education in the University of Delhi 1962, the ODL programme has expanded in diverse areas and at different levels in the country.

Employee development is critical to the strategic value of all businesses that compete in the global business environment. In other words, learning in the workplace is central to organizational transformation and to sustaining an organizations’ competitive advantage. Distance education provides an opportunity to integrate learning, working and living. These three aspects of personal development must develop together, so that the overall quality of life improves and the society as a whole becomes a learning society.

In the learning society of the future, distance education provides a variety of education opportunities to many more people and thereby reduce the teacher - learner gap. It provides useful skills and knowledge through non-formal basic education to farmers and others, who have never been to school, thus contribute to their own and their nation’s development. Secondly, it also concentrates on school dropouts with a view to train them for productive employment. Thirdly, it helps to upgrade the skills and competence of those who are already employed of which education is an important process and learning is an important outcome.

With this background, veterinary profession is of no exception to the growing trend of Open and Distance Learning (ODL). Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS) a pioneering University in the field of veterinary and animal science in India had launched two ODL programmes namely “Recent trends in disease diagnosis and treatment of ruminants” and “Managing infertility in bovines” in December 2003 with its nodal center at Tirupur and Tirunelveli of Tamil Nadu State respectively to benefit the practicing veterinarians of the State.

This distance education programmes were intended to update and upgrade knowledge, skill and job performance of practicing veterinarians so as to benefit the individual, society and country as a whole. It would be worthwhile to understand if the ODL programme delivered by TANUVAS has served its purpose. In order to know that it is necessary to explore whether the course has imparted knowledge, skill and improved job performance. Also researching the participant’s perception towards the course would throw light for improvement and development of the course and its delivery system.

The study is therefore undertaken to assess the impact of the ODL program "Recent trends in disease diagnosis and treatment of ruminants" by comparing knowledge, skill and job performance between participants and non-participants of ODL. With this in view the present study was undertaken with the following specific objectives.

1.                  To assess the general perception of the participants of ODL towards the usefulness of the course contents in terms of knowledge and skill gained.

2.                  To find out the level of knowledge and skill among the beneficiaries of the ODL course.

3.                  To know the difference in knowledge and skill between participants and non-participants of the ODL programme.

Methodology 

The design frame consisted of one experimental and one control group. Out of the 120 veterinary practitioners who had enrolled in ODL course on "Recent Trends in disease diagnosis and treatment of ruminants", 40 of them who responded to the questionnaire formed the experimental group (Table 1). Among the non-participants of the ODL programme, 40 veterinary practitioners working under similar conditions formed the control group for the study. The respondents were from Erode, Salem and Coimbatore districts of Tamil Nadu, India. The data were collected from among 80 veterinarians using a well structured and pre-tested questionnaire.

The list of practicing veterinarians who have not enrolled in the ODL programme and who belonged to the three districts of Tamil Nadu namely Erode, Salem and Coimbatore was prepared in consultation with the Joint Directors of the respective districts. From the list of non-participants a sample size of 40 equivalent to that of experimental group for the study were selected by simple random technique to form the control group. A sample size of 80 respondents was thus fixed for the study. Of the 80, 40 were from the experimental group and remaining 40 from the control group.

Perception towards knowledge gain

The perception of ODL with reference to knowledge gained was measured as per Sinha and Verma (1975) using a four point continuum as ‘refreshed and added new knowledge’, ‘added new knowledge’, ‘only refreshed old knowledge’ and ‘did not provide any knowledge’.

The scores for each course content for knowledge level was worked out and divided by the number of respondents to arrive at the mean score of the content. Based on the mean score of each content, the distance education course contents were arranged in the descending order to get their individual position as perceived by the participants.

Measuring the knowledge

Knowledge is generally understood as an intimate acquaintance of an individual with facts. It was measured using a teacher made test related to the contents of ODL programme chosen for the study.

There were 50 items in the initial knowledge test which was prepared in consultation with the project officials and the experts. These 50 items were subjected to the opinion of the veterinary clinicians and project officials to indicate the relative merit of the questions to be included in the final knowledge test. Accordingly 30 items were selected and included in the final test. Each item in the knowledge test was dichotomized into correct and incorrect responses. Every correct response was assigned a unit score of ‘one’ and incorrect responses received ‘zero’ score. The total score obtained from each respondent reflected the knowledge he / she possessed. Thus a maximum score one could obtain was 30 and the minimum was zero.

The test was administered among the experimental group who had completed the ODL programme and also among the control group to assess the differences in the knowledge due to the distance education course contents and was categorized as low, medium and high based on mean and standard deviation. The difference in knowledge was also subjected to ‘Z’ test to know the test of significance.

Perception towards skill gained

The skill level was measured as per Singh (1988) by using self perceived test. The competence of veterinary practitioners was measured through expressed opinions. The responses for effectiveness of distance course contents with reference to skill was measured using a four point continuum as ‘obtained new skill and improved over old skill, obtained new skill, improved over old skill and did not provide any skill’. The score obtained by each individual was taken for statistical analysis.

The scores for each course content for skill level was worked out and divided by the number of respondents to arrive at the mean score of the content. Based on the mean score of each content, the distance education course contents were arranged in the descending order to get their individual position as perceived by the participants.

Instrument for measuring skill

Skill is usually learnt to perform an action. In order to measure the skill gained through ODL a teacher made skill test was constructed based on the contents of the ODL programme.

A list of 30 items was prepared in consultation with the project officials and the experts to ascertain the improvement in the skill due to ODL. These 30 items were subjected to the opinion of the veterinary clinicians and project officials to indicate the relative merit of the questions to be included in the final skill test. Accordingly 10 items were finally selected and included in the final test. The responses of mental skill test for each item were obtained on a five point continuum based on the frequency of skill utilized as detailed below.

The score obtained by the individual for each item was summed up to arrive at the total score. Thus a maximum score one could obtain was 40 and minimum was zero. The test was administered to both experimental and control group to understand the difference in skill improved due to ODL.

The test was administered among the experimental group who had completed the ODL programme and also among the control group to assess the difference in the skill due to the distance education course contents and was categorized as low, medium and high based on mean and standard deviation. The difference in skill was also subjected to ‘Z’ test to know the test of significance.

Results and discussion 

Perception of the participants towards usefulness of the distance education course contents interms of increasing the level of knowledge.

Perception of participants towards the usefulness of ODL programme on increasing knowledge level was analyzed based on the mean score obtained by the individual items and is presented in Table 2.

It is observed from the above table that the perception of participants towards chest examination, abdominal examination and rumen fluid examination scored two and above. This indicates that their perception regarding these contents were both refreshed old knowledge and added new knowledge. The remaining contents of the ODL course scored between one and two. This indicates that the contents had refreshed old knowledge and added new knowledge.

It is concluded from the table that most of the course contents were perceived to have refreshed old knowledge as well as added new knowledge. This implies that the course contents were useful in providing knowledge and should be provided with more practices to enhance their job output on a regular basis.

Although traditional training department structures and classroom delivery of learning worked well in the past, they are neither flexible enough nor powerful enough to support all of today’s educational and training needs. Rapid change is sweeping over global business. Intense global competition, imbalances in wages and production policies between nations, infusion of new technologies and increasing customer demands for quality are occurring. At the same time labour and financial resources are shrinking. This combination of circumstances puts unprecedented pressure on organizations to be more efficient and effective (Chute et al 1998).  Hence veterinary professionals are also not exempted from the above situation and so refresher courses are organized by TANUVAS as continuing education programme occur once in a year for field veterinarians. During such training veterinarians get an opportunity to expose themselves towards the latest advancements and infrastructure which are not present at their field level. However such refresher courses provide opportunities only to few veterinarians and also it is limited in occurrence. Hence distance education is essential to update the professional knowledge of field veterinarians to perform their role in the veterinary services.

This is also supported by the findings of Squire and Tladi (2003) that government and non-government organizations demand workers with higher skills and knowledge to enhance productivity in the work place.

Perception of the participants towards usefulness of the distance course contents in terms of skill improved

Perception of participants towards the usefulness of ODL programme on skill level was analyzed based on the mean score and presented in Table 3.

It is observed from the above table that the perception of participants towards chest examination and selection of anthelmintic therapy scored two and above. This indicated that their perception regarding these course contents were obtained new skill and also improved upon the old skill.

The remaining contents of the ODL course in the order of scores is given in the above table and showed a score between one and two. This indicates that participants perception ranged between obtained new skill and improved over old skill. Only a few participants expressed that the course did not provide any skill. Probably they had learnt all these practices during training which they had attended recently and through experience.

It is concluded that most of the participants perception on course contents ranged between improved old skill and added new skill. This indicated that participants skill can be improved through ODL programme and courses on various subject areas can be given at regular intervals to upgrade their skill as required by their job situation.

Difference in knowledge and skill level between the participants and non-participants of ODL programme

In this section, the findings pertaining to the difference of knowledge level and skill level of participants and non-participants are discussed. The data relating to distribution of respondents according to knowledge level and skill level of participants of ODL programme and non-participants are presented in Table 4 and 5.

From the Table 4 it could be observed that an overwhelming majority of participants (97.50 per cent) had medium to high level of knowledge whereas majority of the non-participants possessed low to medium level of knowledge (92.50 per cent). The rest 2.50 per cent of participants and 7.50 per cent of non- participants had low and high level of knowledge respectively.

The results show that most of the participants were found to have gained medium to high level of knowledge compared to non-participants. This might be attributed to their exposure to ODL programme. This indicates that the course contents covering diagnosis of diseases, conducting medical treatment, surgical treatment and post – mortem examination of ODL programme was proved to be effective in terms of knowledge by the findings of this study.  This might improve the role of the veterinary practitioners to effectively achieve the purpose of enhancing livestock production and better service to the animal.

This is in conformity with the findings of Hirvenkanagounder et al (1984), Verma and Verma (1985), Rao (1988), Somasundaram (1989), Chandrakandan (1990), Sudeepkumar and Subramaniam (1994), Jeyasubramanian (1996) and Yeswanth (2000).

The distribution of respondents according to their skill level is presented in Table 5. 

From the Table 5 it could be observed that most of the participants (85.00 per cent) had medium to high level of skill whereas majority of the non-participants (85.10 per cent) had low to medium level of improved skill. The rest 15.00 per cent each in case of participants and non-participants had low and high level of skill respectively. The results show that most of the participants were found to have improved skill compared to non-participants.

The improved skill of participants compared to non-participants might be due to the fact that the objective of the ODL programme and the way in which it was presented to the participants made them more skillful in their job situation than the non-participants. This study is in line with the study of Chandrakandan and Knight (1988) and Ramalingam (2005).

Difference in knowledge and skill between the participants and non-participants of ODL programme

The difference in knowledge and skill between the participants and non-participants of the ODL programme was statistically analysed through ‘Z’ test. It is presented in Table 6 and discussed below.

It could be observed from table 6 that the difference between participants and non-participants in terms of knowledge level was highly significant (probability <1). However the difference between participants and non-participants between skill level was found to be non-significant. Thus it could be concluded that the participants possessed significantly higher knowledge than the non-participants which could be ascribed to their exposure to the ODL programme. The shorter duration of time that elapsed between the completion of the ODL programme and the present study might be the reason for non-significant difference between participants and non-participants in the areas of skill development. Though the participants gained skill it was more on specific situations and was not expressed statistically. This might be due to the reason that veterinary science is an applied science and it requires more interactive practical sessions for practitioners to apply at field level and enhance their skill. To use multimedia software directly in some scientific courses is a practical way to raise participant’s interest and to promote their professional skills.

Conclusions 

• In this study distance education helped to enhance knowledge and skill of veterinarians on disease diagnosis and treatment of ruminants. It focussed on the development of working knowledge with the aim of making learning relevant to their working conditions. It also provided the opportunities to undertake diverse activities involving alternative and innovative approaches to cater to the needs of the learners taking into account the local conditions and the resources available in their hospitals / dispensaries.

  
  

• From the above study it was concluded that an overwhelming majority of the participants (97.50 per cent) had medium to high level of knowledge and the non-participants (92.50 per cent) gained low to medium level of knowledge. And with regard to skill, most of the participants (85.00 per cent) had medium to high level of skill, whereas majority (85.00 per cent) of the non-participants had low to medium level of skill. The ‘Z’ test was statistically significant for knowledge gain and non-significant for skill gain.

  
  

• This indicates that the ODL programme offered significantly increased the knowledge level of the participants whereas with regard to skill level, the participants require more hands on training  to meet out the challenges faced in the diagnosis and treatment of animals in the field situation. The simple fact that more they were expand to complicated cases under the supervision of the trainer better would be they learn and make service delivery effective. This was reflected in this study. This is in line with Daniels (2005) where he stated that conventional means alone are unable to meet the challenge. ODL, coupled with the application of appropriate information and communication technologies, can play a central role in delivering quality education.

  
  

• Thus this study may serve as a guide to the veterinary institutions along with the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries to suitably implement more number of ODL programmes, to develop professional efficiency in the veterinary practitioners in the country. Also it would help to include more practical exposure to the learners and provide opportunity for real time learning to the participants which would enhance their skill considerably.

  
  

• Veterinary being a profession which requires more practical approach these facts need to be considered in implementing ODL programmes.
   

Acknowledgments

This research was part of the requirements for the MVSc of the senior author.
 

References 

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Received 8 August 2009; Accepted 10 September 2009; Published 1 November 2009

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