Impact of specifications grading on a pharmacy communication and professionalism course

There are noted drawbacks associated with traditional point-based or pass/fail grading schemas and student learning. The purpose of this pilot study is to explore the impact of specifications grading in a required pharmacy course.

A communication and professionalism pharmacy course transitioned from pass/fail grading to specifications grading. Objective course data, such as final grades, number of student- and faculty-initiated emails, student absences, and professionalism issues, were collected and compared between the two cohorts. Subjective data regarding grading schema perceptions, collected through voluntary, anonymous student survey responses, were compared to a similar pharmacy professionalism course that used traditional grading. A chi-square or Fisher's exact test was utilized for statistical analysis.

The majority of students undergoing specifications grading received a final course grade of A (n = 52, 94.5%). Most students surveyed responded favorably towards specifications grading, including its impact on maintaining professional behavior (98.1%), allowing for control of overall experience (96.3%), creating personal responsibility (98.1%), motivating higher quality of assignments (98.1%), and time management (96.3%). Less stress around deadlines (85.2% vs 62.9%, p = 0.0068) was found with specifications grading versus traditional grading whereas decreased faculty-initiated emails after missed deadlines (3.6% vs 16.4%, p = 0.0202) was found with specifications grading versus pass/fail grading.

A specifications grading approach may promote professional behavior without increasing faculty workload when implemented in a required pharmacy communication and professionalism course.