Active-learning Strategies for Legal Topics and Substance Abuse in a Pharmacy Curriculum

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Active Learning Strategies
• Medical Ethics

Background:

• Traditional didactic methods may not fully engage students in complex scientific and ethical topics.
• Integrating creative and applied learning experiences can enhance knowledge retention and critical thinking.
• Engaging students in teaching material promotes deeper understanding and mastery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement innovative active-learning strategies in pharmacy courses.
• To enhance student engagement in learning, applying, and teaching legal and substance abuse topics.
• To assess the effectiveness of creative pedagogical approaches in medication safety, pharmacogenomics, and drugs of abuse education.

Main Methods:

• Students in Medication Safety created films on National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs).
• Pharmacogenomics students presented short stories on ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) using comic book characters.
• Drugs of Abuse students performed dances depicting drug mechanisms of action in an "in-class rave" format.

Main Results:

• Course evaluations indicated high student engagement and enjoyment of creative, critical thinking, and collaborative activities.
• Students demonstrated strong performance on examinations and graded assignments.
• Active learning fostered improved abilities in learning, applying, and teaching course material.

Conclusions:

• Creative active-learning strategies effectively engage students in complex scientific and ethical topics.
• These methods facilitate deeper learning, application, and the ability to teach material across various pharmacy disciplines.
• The study highlights the value of experiential and collaborative learning in pharmaceutical education.