Faculty motivations to use active learning among pharmacy educators.

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Faculty adoption of active learning strategies is crucial for enhancing student engagement and learning outcomes.
• Previous research primarily relied on faculty perceptions, limiting a deeper understanding of motivational drivers for active learning implementation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between faculty's intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, demographic factors, and the extent of active learning utilization in pharmacy classrooms.
• To identify key motivational factors that predict the adoption and frequency of active learning in pharmacy education.

Main Methods:

• An online survey was distributed to 979 faculty members across 137 US colleges and schools of pharmacy.
• The survey collected data on intrinsic/extrinsic motivations, active learning strategies employed, time allocated to active learning, and faculty development resources utilized.
• Statistical analyses included bivariate correlations and multivariable stepwise linear regression to determine predictive relationships.

Main Results:

• All motivation variables significantly correlated with active learning use (p < 0.001).
• Intrinsic motivation showed the strongest correlation (r = 0.447), followed by ideal extrinsic (r = 0.291) and current extrinsic motivations (r = 0.245).
• Higher intrinsic motivation was linked to increased resource use, a greater variety of active learning methods, and negatively associated with years of teaching experience.

Conclusions:

• Faculty with higher intrinsic motivation are more likely to dedicate greater class time to active learning.
• Fostering intrinsic motivation may be key to encouraging faculty participation in active learning workshops and the adoption of diverse active learning strategies.