Speed and accuracy of pharmacy students' response to calculation problems with or without formula prompts

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the amount of time spent per problem and the level of accuracy per problem, based on the presence or absence of a stressor. The impact on accuracy created by stress due to the lack of the formula prompt during an assessment is a major focus of this study.

Sixty-nine first-year pharmacy students were tested with four calculation questions (Qs) divided between two quizzes. The first quiz contained three multiple-choice questions (MCQs), Q1 to Q3, and no formulas to assist students. The second quiz contained one MCQ, Q4, and provided a formula to assist students. The degree of difficulty of Q1, Q2, Q3 was set lower. Also, Q3 and Q4 were identical. The only difference was the inclusion of the formula to assist the student. The absence of the formula on the first quiz served as the stressor, which impacted the average response time and level of accuracy. Analysis was performed for determining the difference among the groups of students based on their rate of accuracy and the rapidness of response.

The mean time to respond to the question with the formula was not significantly different from the mean time to respond to the question with no formula. While the rapidness of response increased due to confidence in the formula provided, accuracy in response selection decreased.

The absence of cognitive stressors contributed to boosting student confidence and rapidness of response but reduced the accuracy.