Ashley N. Castleberry

Pharmacy Students’ Ability to Think About Thinking

Objective. To investigate students’ metacognitive skills to distinguish what they know from what they do not know, to assess students’ prediction of performance on a summative examination, and to compare student-identified incorrect questions with actual examination performance in order to improve exam quality. Methods. Students completed a test-taking questionnaire identifying items perceived to be incorrect and rating their test-taking ability. Results. Higher performing students evidenced better metacognitive skills by more accurately identifying incorrect items on the exam. Most students (86%) underpredicted their performance on the summative examination (actual=73.6 ± 7.1 versus predicted=63.7 ± 10.5, p<0.05). Student responses helped refine items and resulted in examination changes. Conclusion. Metacognition is important to the development of life-long learning in pharmacy students. Students able to monitor what they know and what they do not know can improve their performance.

Development of a Summative Examination with Subject Matter Expert Validation

Objective. To describe the development, implementation and impact of a summative examination on student learning and programmatic curricular outcomes. Methods. The summative examination was developed using a systematic approach. Item reliability was evaluated using standard psychometric analyses. Content validity was assessed using necessity scoring as determined by subject matter experts. Results. Almost 700 items written by 37 faculty members were evaluated. Passing standards increased annually (45% in 2009 to 67% in 2014) as the result of targeting item difficulty and necessity scores. The percentage of items exhibiting discrimination above 0.1 increased to 100% over the four years. Necessity scores above 2.75 out of 4 increased from 65% to 100% of items over six years of examination administration. Conclusion. This examination successfully assessed student and curricular outcomes. Faculty member engagement observed in this process supports a culture of assessment. This type of examination could be beneficial to other programs.

Strategies for Improving Learner Metacognition in Health Professional Education

Metacognition is an essential skill in critical thinking and self-regulated, lifelong learning. It is important for learners to have skills in metacognition because they are used to monitor and regulate reasoning, comprehension, and problem-solving, which are fundamental components/outcomes of pharmacy curricula. Instructors can help learners develop metacognitive skills within the classroom and experiential setting by carefully designing learning activities within courses and the curriculum. These skills are developed through intentional questioning, modeling techniques, and reflection. This article discusses key background literature on metacognition and identifies specific methods and strategies to develop learners’ metacognitive skills in both the classroom and experiential settings.

Qualitative Analysis of Written Reflections during a Teaching Certificate Program.

Objective. To evaluate the success of a teaching certificate program by qualitatively evaluating the content and extent of participants’ reflections. Methods. Two investigators independently identified themes within midpoint and final reflection essays across six program years. Each essay was evaluated to determine the extent of reflection in prompted teaching-related topic areas (strengths, weaknesses, assessment, feedback). Results. Twenty-eight themes were identified within 132 essays. Common themes encompassed content delivery, student assessment, personal successes, and challenges encountered. Deep reflection was exhibited, with 48% of essays achieving the highest level of critical reflection. Extent of reflection trended higher from midpoint to final essays, with significant increases in the strengths and feedback areas. Conclusion. The teaching certificate program fostered critical reflection and self-reported positive behavior change in teaching, thus providing a high-quality professional development opportunity. Such programs should strongly consider emphasizing critical reflection through required reflective exercises at multiple points within program curricula.

Family Commitment and Work Characteristics among Pharmacists

Factors associated with family commitment among pharmacists in the south central U.S. are explored. In 2010, a cross-sectional mailed self-administered 70 item survey of 363 active licensed pharmacists was conducted. This analysis includes only 269 (74%) participants who reported being married. Outcome measures were family commitment (need for family commitment, spouse’s family commitment), work-related characteristics (work challenge, stress, workload, flexibility of work schedule), and job and career satisfaction. Married participants’ mean age was 48 (SD = 18) years; the male to female ratio was 1:1; 73% worked in retail settings and 199 (74%) completed the family commitment questions. Females reported a higher need for family commitment than males (p = 0.02) but there was no significant difference in satisfaction with the commitment. Work challenge and work load were significantly associated with higher need for family commitment (p < 0.01), when controlled for age, gender, number of dependents, work status, and practice setting. Higher work challenge was associated with higher career satisfaction. Higher job related stress was associated with lower job satisfaction. High work challenge and work load may negatively impact family function since married pharmacists would need higher family commitment from their counterparts. The impact of work-family interactions on pharmacy career satisfaction should be further investigated.

An evaluation of an interprofessional practice-based learning environment using student reflections

ABSTRACT The 12th Street Health and Wellness Center is an interprofessional, student-led, community-based clinic. Students from all University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences colleges work together to provide healthcare services for residents of an underserved community. Interprofessional student teams assess patients and present to an interprofessional preceptor team. At the conclusion of clinic, teams reflect on their experience. The objective of this study is to generate key themes from the end of clinic reflections to describe learning outcomes in an interprofessional practice environment. Student teams were asked to reflect on what they learned about patient care and interprofessional practice while volunteering at the clinic. Three hundred eighty reflection statements were assessed using the constant comparative approach with open coding by three researchers who identified and categorised themes by selecting key phrases from reflections. Eight themes emerged from this process which illuminated students’ self-perceived development during practice-based learning and interprofessional collaboration. Key phrases were also coded to the four core Interprofessional Education Collaborative competency domains. These results suggest learners’ perception that the Center is a practice-based environment that provides an opportunity to learn, integrate, and apply interprofessional curricular content.

Pharmacists’ Opinions of the Value of CAPE Outcomes in Hiring Decisions

Objective. The Hiring Intent Reasoning Examination (HIRE) was designed to explore the utility of the CAPE 2013 outcomes attributes from the perspective of practicing pharmacists, examine how each attribute influences hiring decisions, and identify which of the attributes are perceived as most and least valuable by practicing pharmacists. Methods. An electronic questionnaire was developed and distributed to licensed pharmacists in four states to collect their opinions about 15 CAPE subdomains plus five additional business related attributes. The attributes that respondents identified were: necessary to be a good pharmacist, would impact hiring decisions, most important to them, and in short supply in the applicant pool. Data were analyzed using statistical analysis software to determine the relative importance of each to practicing pharmacists and various subsets of pharmacists. Results. The CAPE subdomains were considered necessary for most jobs by 51% or more of the 3723 respondents (range, 51% to 99%). The necessity for business-related attributes ranged from 21% to 92%. The percentage who would not hire an applicant who did not possess the attribute ranged from 2% to 71.5%; the percentage who considered the attribute most valuable ranged from 0.3% to 35%; and the percentage who felt the attribute was in short supply ranged from 5% to 36%. Opinions varied depending upon gender, practice setting and whether the pharmacist was an employee or employer. Conclusion. The results of this study can be used by faculty and administrators to inform curricular design and emphasis on CAPE domains and business-related education in pharmacy programs.

Proctoring strategies for computer-based and paper-based tests

Academic dishonesty, including plagiarizing and cheating on tests and assignments, is an educational concern for faculty and preceptors.[1][1] Faculty and preceptors play an important role in maintaining academic integrity and preventing cheating by clearly delineating standardized procedures and