Changes in Pharmacy Students’ Metacognition Through Self-Evaluation During Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences

Abstract

Objective. To explore whether metacognition can be improved in Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students through routine self-assessment over a year-long advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) sequence. Methods. Differences between self-assessment scores and preceptors' scores for three cohorts of pharmacy students between 2015 and 2018 were compared between the first, second, and third trimester to determine whether students more accurately evaluated their performance over time. The primary endpoint was change in the absolute difference between student and preceptor evaluation (rubric and composite scores) between trimesters. Results. Of 2577 student and preceptor evaluations eligible for inclusion, 1713 were completed, matched, and analyzed. Using the same rubric as preceptors, students overestimated their performance by an average of 16 points during the first trimester, followed by 14 and 12 points during the second and third trimester, respectively. This reflected a significant improvement over time. No significance difference was found between student and preceptor composite scores. Faculty preceptorship, students' pre-APPE grade point average, and type of APPE were not associated with any difference in rubric or composite scores. Conclusion. This analysis revealed that the difference between student self-evaluation grades and preceptor evaluation grades was greatest during the first trimester and significantly decreased in the second and third trimesters. This could reflect students' development of metacognitive processes over time. Metacognition is a vital skill for pharmacy students to learn, and opportunities to develop this skill should be incorporated throughout the pharmacy curricula.

Association between Personality Traits and Metacognition among Pharmacy Students: Implication for Pharmaceutical Education

“…So far, pharmaceutical educators have employed some teaching strategies for the improvement of students' metacognition. [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] In a review conducted by Medina et al 16 interventions including exam reviews, cognitive apprenticeships, thinking out loud protocols, modeling of personality and has been well-accepted among personality psychologists. [5][6][7]9 Here, we reported a strong positive correlation between overall MCQ-30 scores and NEO-FFI conscientiousness among pharmacy students, which was evaluated using Pearson correlation.…”

“…Considering the ever-changing nature of the pharmacy profession, which requires ongoing selfassessment of knowledge and skills as well as life-long learning, the importance of metacognition skill training in pharmaceutical education has been highlighted in recent years. [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] During the learning process, pharmacy students need metacognitive skills to supervise and adjust their thinking, understanding and reasoning and problem-solving, that are underlying components or desired outcomes of pharmaceutical curricula. Metacognition is essentially a means to address "what" "when" and "how" to learn.…”

“…As for the pharmacy practitioners such as pharmacists, metacognitive skills may affect their professional judgments, for example, being met cognitively aware can lead to better critical thinking and monitoring of actions, thus prevent medication errors in the clinical settings. [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] Considering the well-accepted role of metacognition in professional development, the new pharmacy education accreditation standard emphasized the metacognitive skills in critical thinking, self-directed learning as a critical part of pharmacy training. [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] Metacognitive skills are useful for learners to develop effective self-directed, lifelong learning strategies and increase self-awareness, the latter of which is a vital component of professional and personal growth for pharmacy students.…”

“…24 More importantly, metacognition is fortunately not an innate skill, but can be effectively developed when certain educational approaches are employed. [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] Therefore, if there is a close relationship between metacognition and personality traits among pharmacy students, it is encouraging that teaching metacognitive skills might be a pathway to develop students' personality traits, enable the student to be a better learner and become a better pharmacy professional. However, current evidences on the correlation between metacognition and personality are from patients with personality pathology.…”

Self-Assessment of Therapeutic Decision-Making Skills in Pharmacy Students

“…Some researchers have reported overconfidence of students and no improvement of self-assessment accuracy [11][12][13] but results from another study showed improvement in self-awareness over three semesters. 14 After the introduction of "benchmark performance" (defined in this context as a self-assessment of performance compared with an expert response), self-ratings became more aligned with expert's ratings. 13 Due to the different approaches employed in the literature, self-assessment accuracy warrants further investigation.…”