Preparing for a Renaissance in Pharmacy Education: The Need, Opportunity, and Capacity for Change

Abstract

The typical approach to course delivery in higher education, particularly for those courses that are considered ''foundational'' and are rich with factual content, has remained unchanged for decades. In the usual paradigm, reading or other activities intended to prepare students or provide background information, often in the form of textbooks authored by the lecturer, are provided prior to class. Educators generally believe that students who come to class with the requisite knowledge will be prepared to ask intelligent and informed questions, engage in dialog, or simply be in position to acquire additional information during the class session. This traditional educational strategy has focused largely on communication, retention, and repetition of factual information. While this approach is efficient in achieving a specific endpoint (graduating students who have been exposed to, and hopefully mastered, a well-defined body of knowledge), it does little to bolster perhaps the greatest asset of a bright and motivated student: the ability to critically assess information and utilize that assessment to solve complex problems. Instead, the end result often is students who have a multitude of facts at their fingertips, but are ill-prepared to bring those facts to bear on real-world problems.The authors' experience has been that this classic approach no longer serves students or faculty members well. It is common for students to not complete assigned readings or activities prior to class, in part because they are not held accountable for being prepared. Consequently, we have migrated away from traditional pedagogy, and contact time in the classroom is increasingly devoted to transmitting basic, foundational content from the instructor to the student. Considering the amount of factual material that must be mastered in a professional pharmacy curriculum, the use of class time to communicate such information limits the opportunity to explore concepts in depth, engage students at higher intellectual levels, or reinforce problem-solving and critical thinking skills.Predictably, frustration with the pedagogical status quo is high. Students are frustrated because contemporary technology provides multiple options for efficient acquisition of information; sitting in a classroom with dozens of classmates listening to a traditional, content-rich lecture is viewed as a waste of time. Faculty are frustrated because, in general, they wish to engage students at a higher level of learning than that associated with the simple transmission of factual information. The need to provide students with foundational content in class, coupled with large class sizes and complex in-class dynamics, virtually eliminates meaningful student-faculty dialog within the classroom environment. Administration is frustrated because the academic organization's most valuable intellectual resource, its faculty members, must devote the majority of their student-contact time to the dissemination of information, with limited opportunities to leverage that intellec...

Redesign of a Large Lecture Course Into a Small-Group Learning Course

“…Evaluating the effectiveness of the course was consistent with the school of pharmacy's Educational Renaissance, 3 which challenges the traditional instructorcentered model of higher education. Several studies have shown the usefulness of shifting material delivery from an instructor-centered model to a student-learningÀcentered model, emphasizing the utility of active learning over traditional lecture, especially for developing nonÀcontent-related skills (eg, communication, critical thinking skills).…”

“…3 At the time of the redesign, most courses at the school were delivered in a lecture format. The self-care course is a required, 3-credit course that meets twice weekly for 80 minutes in the spring semester of the second year of the doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program.…”

A Roadmap for Educational Research in Pharmacy

“…Calls for reform within health professions and pharmacy education highlight ongoing concerns about the ability of current curricula to prepare students for the evolving healthcare needs of society. [1][2][3][4] Reform proposals have highlighted the need to rethink various aspects of the educational system, including curriculum content, pedagogical approaches, and student learning outcomes. 7,58 While numerous colleges and schools of pharmacy are taking action to revise their curricula, 7 pharmacy educators should look beyond the classroom and beyond isolated components of the existing curricula and rethink the entire educational process.…”

“…While governing bodies like the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education assess the effectiveness of current practices in pharmacy education, 1,2 curricular changes and pedagogical innovations are permeating colleges and schools of pharmacy. [3][4][5][6][7] Amid the many challenges and changes facing health professions and higher education, educators are uniquely positioned not only to re-engineer learning and curricula within colleges and schools of pharmacy, but to engage in educational research that goes beyond informing course redesign and truly guides the transformation of learning and curricula. Thoughtful consideration should be given to the ability of educational research to inform, empower, and transform faculty members and the academy as pharmacy educators strive to understand and improve curricula and educational outcomes in pharmacy.…”

Redesigning a Pharmacology Course to Promote Active Learning

“…While the main method of content delivery used in pharmacy education is remains didactic lecturing, there has been a large push toward active learning over the past decade 1,2 . Active learning is the PAP Manuscript…”