ANSC30370

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Academic Year 2025/2026

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Professional Work Experience (ANSC30370)

Subject: : Animal Science

College: : Health & Agricultural Sciences

School: : Agriculture & Food Science

Level: : 3 (Degree)

Credits: : 30

Module Coordinator: : Dr Stafford Vigors

Trimester: : Autumn

Mode of Delivery: : On Campus

Internship Module: : Yes

Module Type: : Professional/Work Placement Module

How will I be graded? : Distinction/Pass/Fail (GPA Neutral)

Curricular information is subject to change.

Students initially will undertake a 3-week period of training in ‘Technical Management of a Dairy Farm’ in Teagasc Kildalton, Piltown, Co. Kilkenny in June. Here, students are expected to gain appropriate experience in key areas in the day to day management of a dairy farm including milking and associated hygiene procedures, herd health and welfare, cow replacement and sire evaluation, grass utilisation and key performance indicators. Both the practical content and the health and safety components of this module will act as preparation for their period of farm placement. This portion of PWE will be assessed through MCQ examinations and practical assessments.\ \ Following completion of the training period in Teagasc Kildalton, students are expected to gain appropriate experience on dairy farms in Ireland or abroad. Placements in New Zealand are recommended, but not compulsory. If students wish to do their placement elsewhere, this placement must be agreed with the module coordinator. Work placement is a minimum of 20 weeks. If travelling to New Zealand, students must spend a minimum of 16 weeks on one farm but can spend the full 20 weeks if they wish. Where a student decides to undertake another placement for the remaining 4 weeks, this must be agreed with the module coordinator. Progress on placement will be monitored through feedback in monthly reports. \ \ Students must familiarise themselves with and abide by the PWE regulations as set out by the Agricultural Sciences Programme Board. Host contract completion is a mandatory requirement of the PWE programme. Therefore, each placement must have a finalised host contract in place (which has been signed by the host and received by UCD) before the placement is deemed to have commenced by UCD. Any placements (or parts thereof) completed in the absence of an appropriately completed host contract will not be accepted and are deemed null and void. Only in the most exceptional circumstances will any deviation from this requirement be permitted and this must have the agreement, in writing, of the PWE co-ordinator. \ The Health, Safety & Welfare module RDEV20140 is a pre-requisite for this module.

About this Module

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What will I learn?

Learning Outcomes:

On successful completion of this module each student should be able to:\ Perform routine skills associated the normal running of dairy farm which includes but is not limited to milking, animal feeding, animal breeding and grassland management. Students should be able to appraise milking and dairy hygiene operations, perform routine skills associated with dairy herd health, evaluate cows, replacement heifers, and sires for breeding, manage grass utilisation through grass budgeting.\ In addition, it is important that students understand and have the ability to evaluate key performance indicators for a dairy farm. Students should have an awareness of the appropriateness of current health and safety practices. Students will need to collect, analyse and report the important information on a dairy farm, describe the business organization and the responsibilities of key operatives in the enterprise on which they were located. The attainment of the above learning outcomes will be assessed through monthly reports, final project report and interview.\ Students will have opportunities to develop important teamwork, interpersonal and self-management transferable skills such as: ability to work independently in unfamiliar situations; manage their time effectively; work effectively as a team member and respect the views of others in the team; accept and respond to constructive criticism; account for their actions and decisions; critically reflect on their experiences. Based on their contacts and experiences on placement students will be able to critically identify and develop potential sources of appropriate employment for their future career.

How will I learn?

Student Effort Hours:

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Approaches to Teaching and Learning:

The key teaching and learning approach in this module is professional or experiential learning, advancing students’ assimilation and application of knowledge gained to date.

Am I eligible to take this module?

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.

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Module Requisites and Incompatibles

Pre-requisite:\ RDEV20140 - Health, Welfare & Safety\ \ \  \

How will I be assessed?

Assessment Strategy

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Carry forward of passed components

No

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What happens if I fail?

Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. \

Assessment feedback

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Group/class feedback, post-assessment\

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback on monthly reports will be provided to inform students if the detail included is sufficient and therefore useful for the final assignment.

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