An eight-year retrospective study in "flipped" pharmacokinetics courses

Area of Science:

• Pharmacokinetics education
• Active learning strategies
• Student performance assessment

Background:

• Foundational and clinical pharmacokinetics courses are crucial for pharmacy education.
• Traditional lecture-based formats may not fully engage students or optimize learning outcomes.
• The impact of evolving active learning strategies on student performance over time requires investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effect of increased active learning strategies in foundational and clinical pharmacokinetics courses on student academic performance over eight years.
• To determine the relationship between different active learning formats in a foundational course and subsequent performance in a clinical course.
• To assess student perceptions of course changes as a secondary outcome measure.

Main Methods:

• Redesigned a foundational pharmacokinetics course from lecture-with-active-learning (LAL) to recitation (REC) and then team-based learning (TBL) formats.
• Transformed a clinical pharmacokinetics course from lecture-based to case-based learning (CBL) format.
• Utilized analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) on examination scores and end-of-semester student evaluations to measure impact.

Main Results:

• The TBL format in the foundational course showed the highest association with improved clinical course grades (effect size 0.78) compared to LAL.
• The REC format in the foundational course also led to higher clinical course performance (effect size 0.50) versus LAL.
• A trend indicated decreased student course ratings with increased self-directed learning in the foundational course, with no change in clinical course ratings.

Conclusions:

• Implementing more active learning in foundational pharmacokinetics education enhances student performance in subsequent clinical courses.
• While active learning boosts academic outcomes, it may be linked to diminished student satisfaction with the foundational course.
• These findings suggest a trade-off between academic gains and student perception in pharmacokinetics curriculum design.