Integrating virtual reality farm and facility tours into a veterinary curriculum to improve student outcomes

Understanding livestock husbandry is essential for veterinary students but Hong Kong has few farms. Therefore, it is essential that our students are well-prepared to maximise learning opportunities provided during field-trips, extramural studies and clinical placements. Technology is increasing in veterinary education and the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the value of diversity in educational delivery techniques, particularly remote options. Online resources, including virtual farms, allow for preparedness for and continuity of learning, even when farm visits are not feasible. We hypothesized that virtual reality would facilitate student learning.

Alongside a local technology company, we developed virtual tours for local dairy cattle, poultry and swine farms, and an equine facility. These were integrated into our Year One Livestock Husbandry course; the cattle tour was available before the in-person farm visit and the poultry tour after. Students did not visit the swine or equine facilities in-person. Enrolled students (n=36) were anonymously surveyed using an online platform about their learning experience and outcomes; with 17, 14, 12 and 12 responding for cattle, equine, swine and poultry respectively.

Few students had prior experience; none had visited a cattle, pig or poultry farm and only three had visited an equine stable before joining the program. The majority of students spent approximately 10 – 20 minutes working in the virtual reality landscape (50.0 to 66.7%), although 42.9% spent >20 minutes on the equine tour. Students were positive about the impact of the virtual tours on their learning experience, with the majority agreeing or strongly agreeing that the virtual tours were useful for their learning (76.5 to 100%), were a good use of their time (82.4 to 91.7%), and would be utilized in a selfdirected manner to prepare for future practical placements (91.7 to 100%). We show students perceive benefits from the use of virtual reality as an educational tool.