Interview with Professor Martin Sullivan
Martin Sullivan
"Pedagogy: Yes I had to look that word up in the dictionary to find its meaning. Having done so I am immediately suspicious of any article that has pedagogy lurking in the text - The science of teaching - Urgh!
"Consequently my goal has always been about delivering for the students that I teach. Equally, I cannot claim to be imaginative and have come up with scintillating ideas to advance the quality of teaching. What I have recognised over the years is that our veterinary students are intolerant and demanding. Woe be tide lecturer who fails to turn up for a lecture!
"On the other hand they are a most conservative group, who dislike change: "Last year got 200 lectures, how dare you cut the number to 199!" And to quote a recent graduate in his first year: "Just tell us what we need to know for the exams!"
"Fundamental to all veterinary degree programmes throughout the world is the recognition of volume overload that is the result of an explosion of knowledge. We now recognise that veterinary students cannot learn everything, though each of us individually in our specialities likes to think they should.
"Confronted with this explosion, we have to rein back the volume and focus more on the application of knowledge and the development of skills. To achieve this, I have tried to introduce changes in the style of teaching (a move away from rote learning to problem solving and decision making), the use of technology to facilitate learning (CAL through TLTP funding, 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' and podcasting).
"I have never been keen on gradual change- step change is much more satisfying, although often irritating to colleagues. None of the above or other innovations in the BVMS programme has been original; where I think I have been pioneering is to grasp and embrace opportunities. One such example was the abrupt introduction of the VLE which was revolutionary for the University. Over the first summer all our teaching material was moved to Moodle, occupying at one point 30% of VLE server space for a School with 2.5% of the student population. Or to spot what is coming over the hill and implement it to suit us before it is imposed upon us. Perhaps the best example of this is Personal Development & Planning. Voluntary for most students, it was made compulsory in the Veterinary Faculty to meet SHEFC imposed objectives and to satisfy our professional accrediting body, the RCVS.
"The application for any form of Learning & Teaching grant always has a box asking how the work is going to be disseminated. It is remarkable how little good practice does become disseminated. But I honestly admit that I have pinched every innovation that I have been responsible for introducing or promoting in the BVMS programme from colleagues in other disciplines within this University. Examples are Objective Structured Clinical Examinations from the Medical School and Collaborative Learning Assignments from the Law School."