Assessing the Alignment of Pharmacotherapeutics Course Outcomes With Topic Outcomes

Abstract

Objective. To investigate the alignment between the course and topic outcomes of a third (course 1) and fourth (course 2) year pharmacotherapy curriculum.Methods. Each topic is categorised into subtopics and each subtopic has a set of learning outcomes.Learning outcomes for the courses and subtopics were matched to examine alignment. Cognitive levels were categorized according to the SOLO taxonomy of prestructural, unistructural, multistructural, relational or extended abstract. The types of knowledge were also categorised as declarative or functioning.Results. There were eight explicit course outcomes for each course and 140 subtopic outcomes for course 1 and 136 for course 2. Wide variations in alignment between the courses and subtopic outcomes were found. Issues identified included the use of redundant verbs, and insufficient alignment and balance of the cognitive levels and knowledge types embedded in each outcome. Conclusion.Alignment between the course and subtopic outcomes is not optimal. Using a constructive alignment analysis, learning outcome issues that need improvement for course alignment have been identified. The methodology can be applied to other courses to promote effective curriculum design.

Student Achievement in a Pharmacotherapy Practice Course: A Case Study at an Indonesian Pharmacy School

“…18 Masalah kurangnya constructive alignment, khususnya pada mata kuliah Farmakoterapi juga terjadi di institusi pendidikan lain, antara lain ketidaksesuaian antara desain instruksional dengan tujuan program, ketidaksesuaian capaian pembelajaran mata kuliah dengan sub-capaian pembelajaran, dan ketidaksesuaian level kognitif pada capaian pembelajaran. 19 Analisis constructive alignment terhadap mata kuliah dan topik-topik yang diajarkan perlu dilakukan agar masalah ini dapat teratasi, sehingga proses pembelajaran dapat ditingkatkan. Terkait kendala mahasiswa dalam menerapkan konsep-konsep Farmakologi yang telah mereka pelajari pada asesmen mid semester, diperlukan untuk memeriksa koherensi antar mata kuliah agar mahasiswa memperoleh pemahaman yang ajeg.…”

2019 Update to the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Pharmacotherapy Didactic Curriculum Toolkit

“…Previous editions of the toolkit have been used by researchers and academic institutions in the United States [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] and internationally 15 to guide curricular development and revision. A recent survey of U.S. schools and colleges of pharmacy found a median of 23 credit hours devoted to pharmacotherapy, which the authors determined was adequate to provide coverage of tier 1 and tier 2 topics from the ACCP toolkit.…”