Abstract
Objectives The aim of this work was to design and evaluate a series of interactive literature evaluation skill development interventions for pharmacy students that progress in complexity. Related goals for this initiative were to design methods for (1) self-assessment of student abilities and (2) conducting a student-led journal club discussion in a high enrollment course. Educational activities Seven literature evaluation skills were targeted. Pharmacy students participated in six in-class article reviews, a written article review, a student-led journal club, and a final written exam. Students rated their skills pre- and post-course using an End-of-Course Self-Assessment. A Journal Club Self-Assessment was conducted after the student-led journal club. Both assessments used a five-point rating system of Novice, Developing, Skilled, Facilitating/Leading, and Educating. Assessment A total of 165 students responded to both the self-assessments. In the Journal Club Self-Assessment, 56% of respondents rated their ability in preparing discussion questions as Skilled, and 32% of respondents stated that formulating discussion questions were the hardest component of the exercise. In the End-of-Course Self-Assessment, 46% of respondents reported “describing study design” as their strongest skill, while 23% reported “identifying ways to improve study design” as their weakest skill. All seven literature evaluation skills had statistically significant improvements (p < 0.001) pre- to post-course. Critical analysis Even after eight carefully constructed exercises with progressing levels of difficulty, all students did not self-assess their ability at the desired level of “Skilled.”
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 846-854 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning |
Volume | 8 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 1 2016 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was funded by an American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) Seed Grant. The authors would like to acknowledge Claire Kolar for her critical review of the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Inc.
Keywords
- Evidence-based medicine
- Journal club
- Literature evaluation
- Pharmacy students
- Self-assessment