The rapid migration of courses from blended teaching to a fully online learning environment during the COVID-19 pandemic required the timely development of new, online teaching resources and re-imagined strategies, to teach practical skills to university students. The move to deliver content that was fully online challenged the assumptions and conventions about the use of face-to-face classes, especially in STEM disciplines that rely on experiential learning. This critical review uses case studies to describe the innovations that were used to adapt undergraduate, first year (foundation) biology courses which were previously delivered using a blended learning pedagogy to a fully online format. In doing so, the opportunities to enhance traditionally practical based activities have also been considered. Future innovations for blended learning, however, require inherent properties and capacity of technologies to support aligned learning tasks. Reflections on the crisis response to learning however, act as a catalyst for educational change towards more flexible models and practices in future interconnected learning environments.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of carprofen administered immediately before cautery dehorning on nociception and stress. Forty Holstein calves aged approximately 6 to 8 wk old were either placebo treated and sham dehorned (n = 10) or cautery dehorned following administration of carprofen (1.4 mg/kg) subcutaneously (n = 10) or orally (n = 10) or a subcutaneous and oral placebo (n = 10) in a randomized, controlled trial. All animals were given a cornual nerve block using lidocaine before dehorning. Response variables including mechanical nociception threshold, ocular temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate were measured before and following cautery dehorning for 96 h. Blood samples were also collected over 96 h following dehorning and analyzed for plasma cortisol and substance P concentrations by RIA. Plasma carprofen concentration and ex vivo PGE2 concentrations were also determined for this time period. Average daily gain was calculated for 7 d after dehorning. Data were analyzed using a linear mixed effects model with repeated measures, controlling for baseline values by their inclusion as a covariate in addition to planned contrasts. Dehorning was associated with decreased nociception thresholds throughout the study and a stress response immediately after dehorning, following the loss of local anesthesia, and 48 h after dehorning compared with sham-dehorned calves. Carprofen was well absorbed after administration and reached concentrations that inhibited ex vivo PGE₂ concentrations for 72 h (subcutaneous) and 96 h (oral) compared with placebo-treated calves (P < 0.05). Carprofen-treated calves tended to be less sensitive (P = 0.097) to nociceptive threshold tests. Overall, at the dosing regimen studied, the effect of carprofen on sensitivity and stress following cautery dehorning was minimal. Consideration of route of administration and dose determination studies may be warranted.

The impact of cold stress on feedlot cattle has received limited investigation in temperate climates. However, cold stress has been found to impact cattle welfare and production in temperate climatic conditions, where ambient temperature (T_A), precipitation, relative humidity (RH), wind speed (WS) and solar radiation (SR) all influencing apparent temperature. While there are many indices to quantify cold stress in cattle, there are limited indices that directly relate to cattle and account for all the interactions between climatic variables. This makes cold stress difficult to quantify, with on-cattle measures such as core body temperature and shivering difficult metrics to obtain in feedlot cattle. Moreover, individual cattle will react differently to cold conditions based on their production, age, sex, coat characteristics (colour and type), breed and nutrition. While cold stress can be difficult to measure, the production status, behavioural and physiological effects of cold stress have been identified, but generally under what could be considered as extreme cold stress events. Similarly, while mitigation strategies such as shelter, bedding and windbreaks have been investigated, limited information is available surrounding their usefulness in temperate climates. Further research is needed to fully investigate the effects of cold stress and how to mitigate those effects in feedlot cattle under conditions, such as those found in Australia.

This study compared the associated impact of gamified molecular genetics lessons on undergraduate student grades for pre-COVID-19 blended delivery and COVID-19 online only delivery of a first-year biology course. When the molecular genetics gamified lessons were used by on- and off-campus students to support their learning, most students had successful learning outcomes in either blended or online only learning environments. In contrast, students who chose not to use these lessons had significantly greater failure rates for both the molecular biology and the genetics short answer questions in the final invigilated exams. Importantly, there was noticeable gamified lesson fatigue observed by both on- and off-campus students and therefore when incorporating gamified lessons into courses, curriculum design needs to be carefully considered. In conclusion, the use of gamified lessons was associated with significantly reduced student failure rates for molecular genetics concepts studied in a university foundational biology course.

Development and deployment of innovative teaching materials and teaching methods are required by the university sector to maintain its relevance in a competitive and rapidly changing online world. In the last five years there has been an expansion in the digital marketplace for STEM online teaching materials, but these do not replace the acquisition of hands-on skills gained by students from experimentation in an on-campus laboratory. Further, there is a paucity of peer reviewed studies defining the efficacy of at home practical options which must be determined before these teaching innovations become adopted by the sector. The fully online restrictions imposed during COVID-19, provided an opportunity to assess the student perceptions and the effectiveness of potential tools for distance learning for STEM education in the future. This study provides insight into the student involvement and attitudes to online supported laboratory practicals, in a core first year biology unit. We compare the response from cohorts of typically on-campus and off-campus learning modes and review the efficacy of these lessons to improve the educational outcomes of students with access limitations to future face-to-face practical learning.

Objective To evaluate the analgesic efficacy of flunixin alone or in combination with diclofenac administered locally to the scrotum at the time of band castration of calves.

Methods Angus bull calves (n = 40" ≈7–9 weeks old) were allocated to four treatment groups (n = 10 per group) to examine the effects of two non-steroidal anti-inflammatory analgesics (NSAIDs) administered locally at the time of band castration: sham control" castration + flunixin" castration + flunixin + diclofenac" castration + saline. The NSAIDs and saline were administered subcutaneously into the scrotum under the band. Blood was sampled at −0.5, 0.5, 1.5, 3, 12, 24, 48 and 72 h relative to castration. Haematology parameters and plasma cortisol levels were determined in samples at all time points and plasma haptoglobin levels determined in samples collected at −0.5, 24, 48 and 72 h. Pain avoidance and postural behaviours were measured for 2 and 12 h, respectively, after castration.

Results Band-castrated calves exhibited significantly higher peak cortisol and higher integrated cortisol responses during the first 6 h post-castration relative to sham controls. Individual active pain avoidance behaviours observed for 1 h post-castration were not significantly different between treatment groups" however" the sum of the total behaviours was significantly increased by castration (P = 0.023). Postural changes included increased abnormal ventral lying for all castrated groups and decreased normal standing and increased combined abnormal postures for the flunixin- and saline-treated groups. Growth rates of calves were not affected by treatments during weeks 1 and 2 post-castration" however, growth rates of castrated calves were significantly lower than those of sham-treated calves in week 3 post-castration (1.41 vs 0.84, 0.75 and 0.56±0.19 kg/day for sham, flunixin-, flunixin + diclofenac- and saline-treated groups, respectively).

Conclusions The administration of flunixin or flunixin + diclofenac intrascrotally at several sites at the time of banding did not improve the welfare of young Angus bull calves undergoing this method of castration when assessed by both physiological and behavioural parameters. In this study, band castration at 7–9 weeks of age had less effect compared with results for older calves reported previously. Further research is required to develop effective analgesic treatments that can be administered at the time of castration to large numbers of animals.