VET TECH 1015RW - Introduction to Mechanisms of Health I

Roseworthy Campus - Semester 2 - 2021

The work of Veterinary Technologists includes ensuring animals are well cared for and as well protected as possible from adverse environmental and health conditions. This course will provide the student veterinary technologist with some of the basic knowledge and tools to keep healthy animals in good health, and to monitor their health. The delivery of the course includes a series of lectures and practical classes where students will work collectively, independently or in small groups to experience the excitement of learning by experience. This approach to learning will help provide the student with skills to be effective life-long learners. This course will deliver learning experiences in the fields of Parasitology, Nutrition and Immunology. All topics central to ensuring and maintaining good health in animal species.

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Course Details

Course Code	VET TECH 1015RW
Course	Introduction to Mechanisms of Health I
Coordinating Unit	School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences
Term	Semester 2
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	Roseworthy Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 6 hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	N
Restrictions	Available to Bachelor of Veterinary Technology students only
Assessment	Two open book exams during semester and a final exam

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Mr Brett Smith

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Course Learning Outcomes

1	Discuss the role parasites play in animal and human health and identify common endo and ectoparasites in some domestic species.
2	Describe the ways in which animals obtain their nutrition from dietary sources.
3	Develop basic diets for dogs, cats, horses and ruminant farm animals.
4	Explain the ways in which the immune system and vaccines can protect animals and humans from ill health.
5	Apply and interpret basic haematological and serological tests which are used in veterinary laboratories to monitor the health of animals.

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Deep discipline knowledge informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1 accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)	1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Critical thinking and problem solving steeped in research methods and rigor based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment	1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Teamwork and communication skills developed from, with, and via the SGDE honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning	1, 2, 4
Career and leadership readiness technology savvy professional and, where relevant, fully accredited forward thinking and well informed tested and validated by work based experiences	1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Learning & Teaching Activities

Learning & Teaching Modes

No information currently available.

Workload

No information currently available.

Learning Activities Summary

What internal and external parasites are relevant to our companion and production species, and how do these effect animal health?

Identify common animal parasites that have the potential to be zoonotic.

How do we detect and manage parasites in our animals?

Animals and humans require dietary nutrients to survive and enjoy good health. What are those nutrients and how much do they need?

How does the digestive system of animals work and individual nutritional requirements achieved from their diets?

What are the systems used to describe and measure the quality of diets which may be offered to animals?

What does the immune system of animals do?

How do vaccines help protect animals and humans from disease?

What vaccines can we give dogs, cats, horses, cows and sheep?

Can we measure the levels of antibodies in an animal and, if so, what does it tell us?

What are the components of blood that we can measure in small veterinary laboratories?

How do the levels of these components help us to know that animals are in good health?

Specific Course Requirements

The course will be delivered as a program of 72 hours of lectures and practical classes.

Attendance at all practical classes (as identified by course coordinator) is compulsory. Student attendance will be recorded to track
engagement and attendance.

Students must have appropriate professional and protective clothing and footwear for practical classes, which may include white coats, overalls and boots.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment Task	Task Type	Weighting	Hurdle Yes or No	Learning Outcome	Due
Early semester open book exam	Summative	20%	No	1	Week 5
Mid semester open book exam	Summative	20%	No	2, 3	Week 8
Late semester open book exam	Summative	20%	No	4, 5	Week 12
Written Group Assignment	Summative	40%	No	1, 2, 3, 4	Week 13

Assessment Related Requirements

Assessment Item with hurdle	% needed to meet hurdle	Is additional assessment available if student does not meet hurdle requirement	If additional assessment is available, explain what type
Attendance at and participation in the practical classes is compulsory	Engagement and completion of all practicals.	Students missing more than two practical classes will fail the course unless they can provide signed medical certificates in line with University policy. Remedial practicals will be offered where reasonably possible. In many cases, practical classes require the time-consuming creation of resources and may be impractical to reproduce for small student groups.	If one or two classes are missed students will be required to complete alternate activities, devised by the Course Coordinator, in order to achieve and demonstrate the skills involved in the missed class/es.

Assessment Detail

Three open book exams (60%)
In each of these three equally weighted exams (20% of final grade each) of one hour in length each, students will be given a series of examination questions and will be able to use learning resources to assist answering the questions. There will be one exam each on the topics of Parasitology, Nutrition and Immunology addressing the theory delivered within each topic period.

Written Group Assignment (40%)
The group assignment will be based around a client information sheet on an assigned species covering the three topic areas of the course, parasitology, nutrition, and immunology. 10% of the course mark will be allocated to each of the three topic areas and a further 10% will be a peer assigned contribution grade for each group member’s involvement in the process.

Submission

If an extension is not applied for, or not granted, then a penalty for late submission will apply. A penalty of 10% of the value of the assignment for each calendar day that the assignment is late (i.e. weekends count as 2 days), up to a maximum of 50% of the available marks will be applied. This means that an assignment that is 5 days late or more without an approved extension can only receive a maximum of 50% of the marks available for that assignment.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

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Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator