Original Research
Sunday, October 13, 2024
12:45 PM–02:15 PM
Abstract
Introduction: Significant changes within the first professional year (P1) Disease Prevention & Self-Care therapeutics course at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy have occurred since course redesign due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as intentional pedagogical updates by course faculty. Incorporation of active learning activities allow students to practice applying effective learning strategies, but may not consistently improve course exam scores.
Research Question or Hypothesis: Do the delivery methods of didactic course content (on-campus versus largely asynchronous) or updates to active-learning strategies affect exam performance?
Study Design: Retrospective cohort-based quantitative study, IRB exempt.
Methods: This study assessed course exam performance for students that took course exams from 2018 to 2023. Three exams were administered each course year (except 2018, where two exams were administered). Exam scores were compared for years that didactic content was delivered on-campus (2018, 2019, and 2023, n=690) versus years that delivery was largely asynchronous and virtual (2020-2022, n=1100). Exam performance was also compared between years that one active learning activity was repeated before each exam (2019-2022, n=1457) versus utilizing different active learning strategies before each exam in addition to extra content application time following the first few lecture topics (2023, n=171). The Mann-Whitney U test was utilized for comparisons of the primary outcomes (PSPP v1.5.3; p=0.05 significant).
Results: Exam performance was similar between years utilizing on-campus versus asynchronous delivery methods (73.3% vs 73.4%, p=0.988). Exam scores were modestly higher during 2023 where additional post-lecture application and varied pre-exam active learning strategies were utilized compared to 2019-2022 (76.1% vs 72.7%, p<0.001).
Conclusion: Use of multiple types of active learning strategies within P1 therapeutics courses may benefit exam performance. The method of didactic content delivery, on-campus versus asynchronous, may not significantly impact exam scores. Additional studies should examine the impact of active learning strategies on first-year therapeutics course performance.
Presenting Author
Jason Zupec PharmDPhiladelphia College of Pharmacy, Saint Joseph’s University
Authors
Michelle Jeon PharmD
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy at St. Joseph's University
Michael Thomson BS
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, Saint Joseph's University