Effective teaching and learning strategies

Over the past decade, leaders in pharmacy education and the profession in the United States focused on responding to the role of the pharmacist in the rapidly changing health care environment. This response included moving to the Doctor of Pharmacy as the entry-level degree in the profession. Less understood and often overlooked are pharmacy's responses to equally dramatic changesin the national higher education environment. One trend in higher education is the use of active teaching and learning methodologies, many of which are based on cognitive science research on human learning. The primary purpose of this paper is to focus on teaching and learning by describing the philosophy and policy changes of the new American Council on Pharmaceutical Education accreditation standards advocating active teaching and learning strategies, by discussing the implications for pharmacy faculty teaching roles and responsibilities, and by providing examples of active teaching and learning strategies and relevant literature embedded in the standards.