Unit information: Ethics and Welfare in 2020/21

Unit name	Ethics and Welfare
Unit code	VETS23005
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Sue Horseman
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	All 1st, 2nd and 3rd year units.
Co-requisites	All other 4th year units.
School/department	Bristol Veterinary School
Faculty	Faculty of Health Sciences

Description including Unit Aims

This unit provides students with an understanding of concepts in welfare, welfare science and in the analysis of ethical and legal issues associated with the use of animals.

Aims:

• To introduce various scientific methods of assessing animal welfare.

• To show how different ethical frameworks can guide decisions relating to animal use.

• To present and explain the legal and professional standards and responsibilities required of the veterinary nurse.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit students will 'be able to:

• Describe and critically evaluate different concepts of welfare
• Evaluate the welfare of individual animals, applying appropriate welfare science
• Apply ethical frameworks to ‘real life’ scenarios and critically evaluate the outcomes of ethical assessments
• Recall legal, professional and industry standards relating to animal welfare and discuss how these relate to specific case examples

Teaching Information

Online synchronous and asynchronous teaching and learning

Small group working

Use of Virtual learning environment (Blackboard)

Assessment Information

Ethics and Welfare Project

The DSE project for this unit consists of an investigation into a UK based welfare issue of the student's choice. The project should describe and analyse the welfare science, ethics, legislation and professional and industry regulations relevant to the welfare issue. Formative feedback will be provided during project ‘drop-in’ sessions. The format and summative assessment of the project is as follows:

1) Oral presentation using PowerPoint (50% of the unit marks)

2) Supporting ‘notes’ section within the PowerPoint presentation (50% of the unit marks)

Passmark for this assessment is 40%. Those failing to achieve 40% in all elements of the unit will be required to do a similar assessment during the re-sit period.

Reading and References

Please refer to the central University reading list repository: https://bristol.rl.talis.com/index.html