Impact of distance education on academic performance in a pharmaceutical care course

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare the performance of pharmacy students from a Pharmaceutical Care course, taught in both distance education (DE) and campus-based formats using active methodologies. For two semesters, students (n = 82) taking the course studied half the subject in the distance education format and half in person. Questionnaires were applied at the beginning of the semester aimed to outline the demographic profile of the students. Their grade in the course was evaluated to determine their performance. The Module 1 (Information on Medication) average on the campus-based was 7.1225 and on DE was 7.5519, (p = 0.117). The Module 2 (Pharmaceutical Services) average on the campus-based was 7.1595 and on distance education was 7.7025, (p = 0.027*). There was a difference in learning outcomes in the Pharmaceutical Care Course between face-to-face and distant education. Therefore, the student performance was better in the distance education module, indicating distance education can be satisfactorily used in Pharmacy Programs.

A comparison of the academic outcome of chiropractic students on full-time and full-time equivalent chiropractic education routes

“…There is a general lack of data comparing FT and FTE programs in clinical professional education and in chiropractic in particular. The findings of this study are supported by those in the fields of nursing, 17 and pharmacy 18 where no differences in general academic achievement have been shown between traditional fulltime students and distance, online, or FTE students. There is some evidence to suggest that mature students have a higher level of dedication to their life goals and that may be reflected in increasing achievement, 19,20 hinted at in the profile of the FTE achievements in this study (Table 3), although further examination of this is warranted.…”

Teaching tools in dental carving: models, virtual resources, and interactivity

“…The use of distance learning platforms has excellent potential as an aid to classroom teaching 6,8 . The use of complementary virtual resources in teaching has generated diverse results 8,18,19 . In the present study, although the vast majority of the students expressed a favorable opinion regarding the assistance provided by the videos in Moodle, visits were not regular and could not be related to good performance, as reflected in grades, in either cohort.…”

A Narrative Overview of the Effectiveness of E-learning in Pharmacy Education

“…Of the fifty-six studies that were reviewed, all were limited by methodological flaws. Thirty (53.6%) studies [11,12,[14][15][16][17]19,20,22,[27][28][29][30][31][32][33][35][36][37]43,46,47,49,[52][53][54]56,58,63,64] did not establish the baseline knowledge, confidence or skills of participants and this is significant in two regards: It does not allow accurate comparison between groups, as differences in baseline knowledge may be responsible for differences in final knowledge; and it does not allow the impact of the intervention in increasing students' performance to be quantified. Three (5.4%) [25,55,57] of the nine studies that reviewed blended learning methods, failed to assess the effectiveness of the e-learning intervention independently of the face-to-face teaching.…”

“…Fourteen (25%) studies [9][10][11][12][13][14]16,38,41,44,47,49,52,54] involved elective courses and therefore, there was a risk of selection bias. Participants in these studies were a self-selected group and it is likely that they already had a positive opinion of e-learning and a high degree of interest in the course content.…”