Building a structured learning package

Pharmacists must become educators of patients and of pharmacy technical personnel. The literature cited in this paper has found that problems of patient compliance, personnel management, the high cost of medical care, and patient medical self-help may very well be solved in part through the application of competently written learning packages. One specific approach to learning package creation is illustrated in this paper, using the training of a unit-dose technician as an example. The subjects of student motivation, step-wise learning using subobjectives, learning feedback, material relevance, and student evaluation are discussed. Higher-level cognitive skills and readability are briefly discussed and illustrated to focus the readers' attention on the more difficult aspects of building learning packages.