How to teach practical skills with live laboratory animals? Using collective reflection to explore approaches and systematise strategies

Abstract

Researchers need training to develop adequate competence before using animals in experimental procedures. In contrast to medical training, there has been almost no scholarly attention to questions of methodology for teaching practical skills with laboratory animals. In this paper, we explore how the experience of laboratory animal trainers can be combined with existing scholarship on learning and teaching practical skills in related fields. Data were collected through facilitated group discussions in a series of workshops involving a total of 72 participants from 18 countries. Participants identified the ‘See one, Do one’ method as their preferred teaching approach in practical classes, and recognised the importance of strategies for progressive and adapted learning. They also acknowledged different types of challenging situations, including trainees who have previously developed proficiency with incorrect techniques, trainees who appear uninterested, trainees expressing aversion to animals and trainees who are reluctant to subject animals to harmful procedures. Although participants presented strategies for overcoming the majority of these challenges, they also highlighted specific scenarios where they felt unable to provide adequate support or overcome the challenges within the training environment. This work represents a first systematic scholarly effort to capture and describe teaching strategies used by practical laboratory animal science trainers, an essential step for education and competency development research and practice in the field.