A Methodology for Assessing Skill-Based Educational Outcomes in a Pharmacy Course

Objective. To develop a methodology for assessing skill development in a course while providing objective evidence of success and actionable data to improve instructional effectiveness. Design. Course objectives were recast as skills to be demonstrated. Confidence in these skills was surveyed before and after the course. Student skills were demonstrated using 4 work products and a multiple-choice examination. Assessment. The change from precourse survey to postcourse survey was analyzed with a paired t test. Quality of the student work product was assessed using scoring guides. All students demonstrated skill mastery by scoring 70% or above on the work product, and 87/88 demonstrated individual progress on the surveyed skills during the 15-week course. Conclusion. This assessment strategy is based on sound design principles and provides robust multi-modal evidence of student achievement in skill development, which is not currently available using traditional student course evaluation surveys.