Robert Soltis

Recognition of Teaching Excellence

The 2008–2009 Task Force for the Recognition of Teaching Excellence was charged by the AACP Council of Faculties Leadership to examine teaching excellence by collecting best practices from colleges and schools of pharmacy, evaluating the literature to identify evidence-based criteria for excellent teaching, and recommending appropriate means to acknowledge and reward teaching excellence. This report defines teaching excellence and discusses a variety of ways to assess it, including student, alumni, peer, and self-assessment. The task force identifies important considerations that colleges and schools must address when establishing teaching recognition programs including the purpose, criteria, number and mix of awards, frequency, type of award, and method of nominating and determining awardees. The report concludes with recommendations for the academy to consider when establishing and revising teaching award programs.

Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning Strategy Enhances Students’ Higher Level Thinking Skills in a Pharmaceutical Sciences Course

Objective. To determine if the process-oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL) teaching strategy improves student performance and engages higher-level thinking skills of first-year pharmacy students in an Introduction to Pharmaceutical Sciences course. Design. Overall examination scores and scores on questions categorized as requiring either higher-level or lower-level thinking skills were compared in the same course taught over 3 years using traditional lecture methods vs the POGIL strategy. Student perceptions of the latter teaching strategy were also evaluated. Assessment. Overall mean examination scores increased significantly when POGIL was implemented. Performance on questions requiring higher-level thinking skills was significantly higher, whereas performance on questions requiring lower-level thinking skills was unchanged when the POGIL strategy was used. Student feedback on use of this teaching strategy was positive. Conclusion. The use of the POGIL strategy increased student overall performance on examinations, improved higher-level thinking skills, and provided an interactive class setting.

Cardiovascular effects of the beta-carboline FG 7142 in borderline hypertensive rats

The hypothesis that acute and chronic administration of the benzodiazepine inverse agonist FG 7142 (N-methyl-beta-carboline-3-carboxamide) produces cardiovascular changes similar to those seen during acute and chronic episodes of stress was studied using conscious, unrestrained borderline hypertensive rats (BHR). Chronic intraperitoneal administration of FG 7142 (10 mg/kg; 5 days/week for 8 weeks) failed to alter resting mean arterial pressure or heart rate compared to maturation and vehicle controls. However, chronic administration of FG 7142 prevented the hypertension associated with a high salt diet. Similarly, acute intravenous (i.v.) administration of FG 7142 (10 mg/kg) in BHR rendered hypertensive with a high-salt diet produced a significant reduction in resting mean arterial pressure as well as marked increases in heart rate. Pretreatment with the benzodiazepine receptor antagonist flumazenil (RO 15-1788, 10 mg/kg, i.v.) blocked the tachycardic response but had no effect on the hypotensive effect of FG 7142 administered i.v. in BHR with salt-induced hypertension. Acute administration of FG 7142 (0.1-10 mg/kg, i.v.) in normal BHR produced no significant changes in resting mean arterial pressure and dose-related increases in heart rate. These experiments indicate that, in conscious unrestrained BHR, FG 7142 can elicit changes in heart rate but not the changes in arterial pressure typically associated with stress or anxiety. Therefore, it appears that FG 7142 is of limited use as a pharmacological tool for investigating the cardiovascular effects of acute or chronic stress in BHR.

Report of the 2004–2005 Finance Committee

INTRODUCTION According to the AACP Bylaws, the Finance Committee is charged with advising the Executive Vice President (EVP) in preparing the annual budget of the Association for review and approval by the Board of Directors. The Committee met via conference call on March 10, 2005 and again on June 9, 2005 to review the financial statements for the period ended June 30, 2004 and the audit process, the statement of revenues and expenses for the year-to-date, updated PharmCAS projections, cash flows, legislation which may affect nonprofit organizations doing business in certain states, sales tax exemption for Association purchases, electronic job board issues, managed reserves, and staffing/space issues relative to program growth. The committee also firmed up the budget proposal for 2005/2006 and reviewed general projections through 2008/2009.